The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach

About this book

Consciousness is one of sciences last great unsolved mysteries. How can the salty taste and crunchy texture of potato chips the unmistakable smell of dogs after they have been in the rain or the exhilarating feeling of hanging on tiny fingerholds many feet above the last secure foothold on a cliff emerge from networks of neurons and their associated synaptic and molecular processes? In The Quest for Consciousness Caltech neuroscientist Christof Koch explores the biological basis of the subjective mind in animals and people. He outlines a framework that he and Francis Crick (of the "double helix") have constructed to come to grips with the ancient mind-body problem. At the heart of their framework is a sustained empirical approach to discovering and characterizing the neuronal correlates of consciousness the NCC the subtle flickering patterns of brain activity that underlie each and every conscious experience.