Where Does Consciousness Come From? Researchers Pinpoint The Physical Seat Of Sentience

For cognitive scientists, neurobiologists, and even some physicists, consciousness presents a unique and alluring problem. Although we know we are conscious, we know almost nothing about how it arises out of inanimate matter, and from where in the brain it comes from. Now, a team of researchers led by neurologists at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) believe it has discovered the physical foundations of consciousness. In a study published in the latest edition of the journal Neurology, the researchers pinpointed regions of the brain that appear to work together to create consciousness. "For the first time, we have found a connection between the brainstem region involved in arousal and regions involved in awareness, two prerequisites for consciousness," lead researcher Michael Fox from BIDMC, said in a statement.