Almost Brainless? Not At All What You Would Think

This is just fascinating: "Consciousness In the Raw," from Science News Online. For one thing, it puts a different light on the so-called "man with no brain" (HT to Joe Carter), who at age 44 is living a fairly normal life, having a skull filled primarily with fluids, where gray matter ought to be. His is a different condition than the one covered in "Consciousness In the Raw," though. That article is about children born with 80% of their brains--virtually all of the cortex--missing, a condition known as hydranencephaly. It's also about these children enjoying a day at Disney World with their families.

They were accompanied by Bjorn Merker, who had invited them and their families there to observe how they responded to the experience.

"Merker noted that these cortex-deprived, nonverbal children remained alert for much of the day. They reacted to what happened around them and expressed a palette of emotions. A 3-year-old girl's mouth opened wide and her face glowed with a mix of joy and excitement when her parents placed her baby brother in her arms."

He also observed them in their homes.

"In observations at each child's home, Merker noted that these youngsters recognized familiar adults, liked familiar settings, and preferred specific toys, tunes, or video programs. Although saddled with limited mobility, some kids took behavioral initiatives, such as learning to activate a toy by throwing a switch."

What does this mean for how we undertand ourselves? To say right now would be very premature, but we can listen to Merker's speculations:

"His analysis generates a provocative proposal: Basic awareness of one's internal and external world depends on the brain stem, the often-overlooked cylinder of tissue situated between the spinal cord and the cortex.

"Merker argues that the brain stem supports an elementary form of conscious thought in kids with hydranencephaly."

...

"Self-awareness and other 'higher' forms of thought may require cortical contributions. But Merker posits that 'primary consciousness,' which he regards as an ability to integrate sensations from the environment with one's immediate goals and feelings in order to guide behavior, springs from the brain stem.

"If he's right, virtually all vertebrates—which share a similar brain stem design—belong to the 'primary consciousness club. Moreover, medical definitions of brain death as a lack of cortical activity would face a serious challenge. At the very least, physicians could no longer assume that individuals with hydranencephaly don't need pain medication or anesthesia during invasive medical procedures.

"'To be conscious is not necessarily to be self-conscious,' Merker says. 'The tacit consensus concerning the cerebral cortex as the "organ of consciousness" ... may in fact be seriously in error.'"

Then there's this potential bombshell:

"The existence of primary consciousness challenges widespread assumptions among physicians that newborns and fetuses can't feel pain, adds pediatric neurologist K.J.S. Anand of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock."

Put that in your pro-choice pipe and smoke it!

What surprises are coming next? Some neursocientists have been saying their studies prove there's no free will, no soul, no real basis for ethics (see links from here). I thank God for neuroscience--my sister has been coming out of her coma the past two days, largely thanks to a great neurosurgeon! Yet what we can learn from this is that we still know less than we think we know.

Posted: Tue - September 18, 2007 at 08:32 AM |

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Almost Brainless? Not At All What You Would Think

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson