What Is a Neural Correlate of Consciousness?

Neuroscience plays a major but not exclusive role in developing a theory of consciousness, with recent progress in neurobiological research, though its conceptual foundations are still being established. From a philosopher's perspective, the concept of the "neural correlate of consciousness" (NCC) refers to the neural system or systems primarily associated with conscious experience. Numerous proposals for the NCC exist, such as Crick and Koch's earlier suggestion about 40-hertz oscillations, which has since faded. The variety of current proposals is compared to the "particle zoo" in particle physics.

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Abstract

I will discuss one aspect of the role that neuroscience plays in the search for a theory of consciousness. Whether or not neuroscience can solve all the problems of consciousness singlehandedly, it undoubtedly has a major role to play. Recent years have seen striking progress in neurobiological research bearing on the problems of consciousness. The conceptual foundations of this sort of research, however, are only beginning to be laid. I will look at some of the things that are going on, from a philosopher’s perspective, and will try to say something helpful about these foundations. We have all been hearing a lot about the “neural correlate of consciousness”. This phrase is intended to refer to the neural system or systems primarily associated with conscious experience. The acronym of the day is “NCC”. We all have an NCC inside our head, we just have to find out what it is. In recent years we have seen quite a few proposals about the identity of the NCC. One of the most famous proposals is Crick and Koch’s suggestion concerning 40-hertz oscillations. That proposal has since faded away a little but there are all sorts of other suggestions out there. The picture is almost reminiscent of particle physics, where they have something like 236 particles and people talk about the “particle zoo”. In