Does the brain create consciousness, or is consciousness a more basic feature of reality? Christof Koch, one of the world's most prominent neuroscientists, explored this question during the 15th "Behind and Beyond the Brain" Symposium.
The mystery reaches far beyond understanding how neurons process information. Scientists can observe which parts of the brain become active when a person sees an object, feels pain, recalls a memory, or makes a decision. Yet they still cannot explain why those physical processes are accompanied by an inner experience.
In other words, researchers can study what the brain is doing, but they do not yet know how that activity produces the feeling of being aware.
The "Hard Problem" of Consciousness
Koch's presentation examined the limits of materialism, the dominant scientific view that everything in existence can ultimately be explained through matter, energy, and physical laws.
