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Preface

Reliable scientiﬁc evidence about consciousness

has often been di‰cult to ﬁnd. This volume

presents more than ﬁve dozen signiﬁcant articles

in the brain and cognitive sciences, all with a

direct bearing on the subject. Our guiding idea

has been to select studies that ask, ‘‘What di¤er-

ence does consciousness make? What are its

properties, and what role could it play in the

nervous system? How do conscious brain func-

tions di¤er from unconscious ones?’’ Among

the published articles that satisfy this standard

we have aimed for the most deﬁnitive, the pio-

neering, the most articulate, and the briefest. We

believe they are of fundamental importance.

We have thought especially about readers who

are new to this fast-growing literature. Wherever

possible we have looked for good introductory

articles, and our own introductions are meant

to highlight brieﬂy why each one is important.

We are painfully aware that we have had to omit

many signiﬁcant articles. Each selection should

therefore be considered a point of entry to a

larger body of published work.

Although we emphasize breadth, we have not

covered neighboring topics such as voluntary

control and self. A new literature is emerging

there, such as the remarkable reconstruction by

Hannah Damasio and coauthors of the brain

of Phineas Gage, the nineteenth-century brain-

injured patient who underwent a great change of

personality when his frontal cortex was pene-

trated by an explosively driven railroad spike

(1994). An equally important body of ﬁndings is

now growing on voluntary control, including

work by psychologists like Daniel Wegner on

agency (Wenzla¤ and Wegner 2000) and by

neurologists on brain conditions that dissociate

voluntary from involuntary control. Conscious-

ness, self, and voluntary control are indeed sister

issues, but they cannot be covered in depth in a

single volume.

Finally, we omitted ideas that are unsupported

by evidence at this time. There has been much

discussion of quantum-theory claims about con-

sciousness, for example, for which we have no

direct evidence at present. Although no hypoth-

esis can be excluded a priori, this volume pre-

sents ideas for which we have reasonably direct

evidence today.

The Rediscovery of Consciousness

Because of the curious history of consciousness

in the twentieth century, this most fundamental

human question has been oddly neglected. Yet

for decades now, the evidence has been mount-

ing in quantity and quality. The scientiﬁc com-

munity has responded with rising interest. After

almost a century of neglect, consciousness has

become a major focus for research. Each month

new ﬁndings appear in leading journals. In the

coming century this new ferment is likely to

reshape our understanding of mind and brain in

the most basic way.

Consciousness has long been seen as central

to the human condition, with a serious literature

dating to the earliest written records from Asia

and the Fertile Crescent. It interpenetrates all

human functions. Sensory perception, attention,

and language can be usefully divided into con-

scious and unconscious aspects. Many memory

researchers now believe that consciousness par-

titions their ﬁeld in crucial ways, in distinguish-

ing between fundamental concepts like ‘‘recall’’

and ‘‘recognition,’’ for example. Motivation,

action control, emotion, learning, and develop-

ment all interact with consciousness in funda-

mental ways.

With the advent of a body of scientiﬁc evi-

dence bearing directly on the subject, a core

study program seems to be emerging. In the

brain sciences, psychology, and philosophy, new

courses and seminars are being taught. Special-

ized doctoral programs have been organized in a

few places, and many laboratories are refocusing

their e¤orts. Even where the word ‘‘conscious-

ness’’ is still treated with caution, the same

questions are debated. We believe this volume

can contribute to informed discussion by pre-

Preface

senting the breadth and depth of the ﬁeld, show-

ing the strength of the scientiﬁc foundations and

highlighting pathways for the future.

Our gratitude goes to the authors presented

here and to those who deserved to be included,

but for the limitations of space. We honor the

pioneers, who often had to work in very di‰cult

circumstances. All who care about understand-

ing human consciousness are in their debt.

Note: After the manuscript of this book was

essentially complete, James Newman died un-

expectedly, to the great shock and regret of his

friends. Jim was a pioneer in scientiﬁc studies of

consciousness. He made noteworthy contribu-

tions to the interpretation of thalamocortical

mechanisms, as well as to scientiﬁc organizations

and activities in the ﬁeld. He was a‰liated with

Colorado Neurological Institute. This book is

gratefully dedicated to his memory.

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Bernard J. Baars*

The Neurosciences Institute

William P. Banks

Pomona College

*Supported by The Neurosciences Institute and The

Neurosciences Research Foundation, which are grate-

fully acknowledged.

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