Resting State fMRI as A Tool for the Study of Consciousness
Journal Title: Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) - Year 2019, Vol 13, Issue 5
Abstract
Consciousness constitutes a complex concept. Its clinical and phenomenological definitions are commonly under debate. Resting- State functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging has contributed to the understanding of different cognitive processes by providing neural mechanisms underlying specific functions. Resting State acquisitions has shown an important role of Resting State networks both in different mental state and consciousness alterations as those disorders of consciousness observed in neurological pathologies and specific states as drug-induced hallucinations and traumatic brain injury. This evidence situates the complex focus of this article, the consciousness, as an accurate balance between activity and connectivity of regions and neural networks.The mere effort to provide an acute definition of consciousness constitutes a major challenge in neurosciences and the conventional characterizations of this concept are currently under strong debate. Nevertheless, several approaches have been developed in order to answer the main question of how the subjective experience emerges. Diverging models, from complex psychological explanations to the denial of any relevance of the consciousness, limiting it strictly to an epiphenomenon of the disposition to act have been discussed in the scientific community . The clinical characterization of this complex concept often considers two main axes. In the first place, arousal is a quantitative approach by which a subject is described as asleep or awake. On the other hand, awareness is a qualitative approach related to the content of the subjective experience. This differentiation has influenced the research-oriented to look for neural correlates of consciousness [1,2]. Figure 1 shows the interacción between these complementary axes, exhibiting examples of conditions in each quadrant. Nevertheless, the balance between arousal and awareness is a poor approach to human conscious experience. There are a lot of clinical and nonclinical scenarios in which consciousness is under a temporary or permanent modification. For example, specific mental states as the exhibited in meditation have been studied and brain activity and connectivity changes related to the onset of meditative activity have been identified [3-5].Figure 1: Consciousness as the complex clinical expression of arousal and awareness. Vertical axis representing awareness show lower level at the bottom and higher level at the top. Horizontal axis representing shows lower level at the left and higher level of arousal at the right side. Examples exhibited in each quadrant are no exhaustive, because much more options may be found in the clinical progression of arousal and awareness in both directions.
Authors and Affiliations
Tomás Labbé Atenas, Javiera Venegas Bustos
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP587587
- DOI 10.26717/BJSTR.2019.13.002469
- Views 177
- Downloads 0
Cypriot Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Quality Of Life
The aim of the present study was to investigate the Quality of Life of patients suffering from IBD and the factors that might be affecting it. The idiopathic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are chronic nosological enti...
Developments in Antimicrobial Textiles – Some Insights on Current Research Trends
The article reviews the recent trends in the development of antimicrobial textiles. Bacterial cellulose has been produced from gram negative bacteria at the air liquid interface of sugary rich medium. The bacterial cellu...
FDA Approvals of Medical Devices Under the De Novo Automatic Class 3 Regulations: An Opinion
The new FDA class 3 automatic medical devices regulations were recently introduced to meet criticism of all sides on the past regulations. An evolving Essure scandal accelerated the launching of this ambitious new plan....
Use of Esophageal Stents After Anastomotic Leakage in Surgery for Gastric Adenocarcinoma Case Report and Review of the Literature
Introduction: Radical gastrectomy is the treatment of choice for the treatment of gastric cancer located in the upper third of stomach or in case of diffuse histology or cells in a signet ring. The worst complication aft...
Not All Calories in Foods are the same
The title of this work is worth discussion and research, perhaps with a conference for multidisciplinary professionals in mind.For an engineer or a physical scientist not trained in the biological sciences, it may come a...