malf
Member
If the inhibitory networks are active, then there is some brain activity, even if there's less than when they're inactive. But during NDEs, the brain is flatlined. As to psychedelic experiences, one would have to show that the reduced activity was the cause of the sensation of enhanced consciousness. Even if that were true, wouldn't it support the contention that reduced brain activity correlates with enhanced conscious experience?
Being an Idealist, I think the causation would be the wrong way round: it wouldn't be that a material cause (i.e. inhibition) were causing enhanced consciousness, so much as enhanced consciousness appearing to us as an inhibitory process.
Exactly. This all seems to support the hypothesis that the brain works as an inhibitory filter of consciousness. When you inhibit the inhibitor, you get closer to experiencing “pure” consciousness, or your “true” self. Eben Alexander has written/spoken about this a fair amount.
Yes. I am not trying to strike a blow against an idealist or filter model. I’m just trying to point out that reduced net brain activity coupled with a less ‘managed’ experience isn’t necessarily a killer blow for a physicalist/brain based model. My reference above does explain that nicely. The most concise ‘plain English’ bit I included in my post above:
“The results were remarkable because they showed for the first time that characteristic changes in consciousness brought about by a hallucinogen are related to ‘decreases’ in brain activity (Carhart-Harris et al., 2012). The decreases were localised to important hub structures in the brain, such as the thalamus, posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex. These structures are important as they are centres for information integration and routing in the brain. Thus, rather than being restricted to the performance of specific functions (e.g. the visual cortex is concerned with visual processing and the motor cortex with motor action) these structures possess a more general, managerial purpose, essentially holding the entire system together; analogous to a capital city in a country, or a chief executive officer of a cooperation. The observed decrease in activity in these regions was therefore interpreted as permitting a more unconstrained mode of brain function (Carhart-Harris et al., 2012).”