Neuroscience of Consciousness
January 1, 2021
Lachlan Kent, M. Wittmann
Many dominant theories of consciousness focus on brief, static, and discrete functional moments of time, neglecting the extended, dynamic, and continuous nature of conscious experience. Experience flows through a succession of moments, from future predictions to present experiences to past memories. This confusion between short and discrete versus long and continuous time is a core issue in consciousness research. Studying time consciousness could test novel predictions of rival theories, and different theories may be compatible if different aspects of time are considered. The crucial step is to make subjective time a central object of study.
September 4, 2018
M. Wittmann
Altered states of consciousness—where feelings of time and self dissolve—offer insights into the nature of consciousness. Experiences such as shock, meditation, mystical revelations, out-of-body experiences, and drug intoxication disrupt ordinary senses of time and self. Recent neuroscience has identified neural underpinnings of these states. The book argues that the consciousness of time and self are closely linked; in extreme circumstances, both intensify or weaken together. It examines the emergence of self in waking life and dreams, time distortion in terror or mystical enlightenment, and loss of time and self in depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy.
Consciousness and Cognition
May 1, 2016
R. Costa, J. Pestaña, D. Costa et al.
Altered states of consciousness involving changes in the sense of self, time, and space are linked to sexual responsiveness. In a study of 116 subjects, greater body awareness and lesser awareness of time and space were associated with higher satisfaction, desire, arousal, and orgasm occurrence. For women, satisfaction, desire, and arousal were especially tied to reduced time awareness. Female orgasms during vaginal intercourse were related to greater body awareness and less time awareness, but orgasms from noncoital activities showed no such link. The findings suggest that attentional absorption during sex enhances sexual responsiveness, particularly in women, and to a lesser degree in men.