Table 2.

The special neurobiological features of consciousness (mostly after Feinberg and Mallatt, 2018a).

Neural complexity (more than in a simple, core brain) Brain with many neurons (>100,000?) Many subtypes of neurons

Elaborated sensory organs Eyes, receptors for touch, taste, smell

Neural hierarchies with neuron-neuron interactions Extensive reciprocal communication in and between pathways for the different senses Brain’s neural computing modules and networks are distributed but integrated, leading to local functional isolation plus global coherence (Nunez, 2016; Mogensen and Overgaard, 2017) Synchronized communication by brain-wave oscillations The higher levels allow the complex processing and unity of consciousness Hierarchies that let consciousness predict events a fraction of a second in advance

Pathways that create mapped mental images or affective states Neurons are arranged in topographic maps of the outside world and body structures Valence coding of good and bad, for affective states Feed into pre-motor brain regions to motivate, choose, and guide movements in space

Brain mechanisms for selective attention and arousal

Memory, short-term or longer