Consciousness

Few questions are as contested in modern thought as the nature of consciousness. Why does the physical brain produce inner experience at all? Where does a sense of personal identity come from, and are our choices truly free? Some thinkers even ask whether consciousness is simply an illusion. Advances in brain research keep these old debates alive, and the discussion now draws in biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers alike.

This book untangles the often confusing arguments and sets out the main theories behind them, while tracking how quickly neuroscience has been moving. It examines how the brain constructs a sense of self, how attention works, the neural correlates of conscious experience, and the physiology of altered states of consciousness. Throughout, the author draws attention to the most recent research.