Beyond Consciousness of External Reality: A Who System for Consciousness of Action and Self-Consciousness
Authors: Georgieff N.; Jeannerod M.
Source: Consciousness and Cognition, Volume 7, Number 3, September 1998 , pp. 465-477(13)
Publisher: Academic Press
Abstract:
This paper offers a framework for consciousness of internal reality. Recent PET experiments are reviewed, showing partial overlap of cortical activation during self-produced actions and actions observed from other people. This overlap suggests that representations for actions may be shared by several individuals, a situation which creates a potential problem for correctly attributing an action to its agent. The neural conditions for correct agency judgments are thus assigned a key role in self/other distinction and self-consciousness. A series of behavioral experiments that demonstrate, in normal subjects, the poor monitoring of action-related signals and the difficulty in recognizing self-produced actions are described. In patients presenting delusions, this difficulty dramatically increases and actions become systematically misattributed. These results point to schizophrenia and related disorders as a paradigmatic alteration of a Who? system for self-consciousness. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.
Language: English
Document Type: Research article
Affiliations: Institut des Sciences Cognitives, 67 Boulevard Pinel, Bron, 69675, France:

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