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Consciousness as an alternate interpretation of corollary discharges

This study investigates the nature of consciousness as interpreted through corollary discharges. We examine whether these signals in the brain represent what we classify as consciousness and explore its materialistic aspects. Using an experimental approach with nine schizophrenic patients, we analyze their ability to recognize their intention to execute an action by pressing a button in response to a visual stimulus. The findings highlight the correlation between the timing of conscious realization and the severity of schizophrenia, suggesting potential pathways for improving understanding and treatment of consciousness-related disorders.

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Consciousness as an alternate interpretation of corollary discharges

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  1. Consciousness as an alternate interpretation of corollary discharges M.Karthikeyan Y9277 Mentor: Prof.Amitabh Mukherjee

  2. AIM • Understanding the nature of consciousness. • Are corollary discharges (signals in the brain) what we call as consciousness?? • How materialistic is consciousness??

  3. Concepts involved • Efference signal • Efference copy signal • Forward Internal Model • Corollary Discharge • Reafferent signal

  4. Experimental Procedure • Subjects – 9 Schizophrenic (corollary discharge pathway affected) patients from MahendruHospital,Kanpur. • Methodology: • Patients were shown a red circle , the stimulus to press a button. • Had to say yes when they sensed their intention to press the button. • Finally press the button. • I noted the time instant of ‘YES’ on a millisecond stopwatch. • Button press time instant was recorded by the software. • Active trial - subject himself pressed the button • Passive trial – I pushed the patients finger onto the button • Active trials – 2 sample and 5 subject trials • Passive trials – 2 sample and 5 subject trials

  5. Time in ms Active-Medium positive STD DEV 1 A-49.11ms P-425.3ms 2 A-189.3ms P-267.7ms Subject

  6. Time in ms Active-Negative 3 A-114.25 P-35.52 4 A-106 P-70.1 5 A-237 P-961.3 6 A-69.8 P-262.5 7 A-120.2 P-558.55 Subject

  7. Time in ms Active-Very high positive STD DEV 8 A-74.33 P-278.32 9 A-189.34 P-267.7 10 A-233.8 P-342.01 Subject

  8. Data Analysis • The first five results were as expected , resulting in late realization of action execution. • Time gap difference corresponded to the subject’s extent of schizophrenia (various levels of the condition) • Explanations for the very high positive time gaps ??

  9. Scope for improvement • Drawbacks: • Number of subjects available were low , larger number of trials performed per subject. • Time instant of ‘YES’ obtained by taking into account the experimenter’s error. • Highly accurate time estimates might be possible by using EEG(electroencephalography) i.e the exact time instant of conscious realization.

  10. References • 1.Sukhvinder S.Obhi , (Evidence for feedback dependent conscious awareness of action(Brain Research,2007 1161:88-94). • 2.Libet, B. (1985) Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 8: 529:566. • 3. Irwin Feinberg (Efference copy and corollary discharge: implications for thinking and its disorders . Schizophrenia bulletin 1978;4(4):636-40.)

  11. Thank You!

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