Fabbro Franco, Aglioti Salvatore M, Bergamasco Massimo, Clarici Andrea, Panksepp Jaak
Department of Human Sciences, University of Udine Udine, Italy ; Perceptual Robotics Laboratory, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Pisa, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome Rome, Italy ; Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS Rome, Italy.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2015 Mar 26;9:157. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00157. eCollection 2015.
Although most aspects of world and self-consciousness are inherently subjective, neuroscience studies in humans and non-human animals provide correlational and causative indices of specific links between brain activity and representation of the self and the world. In this article we review neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and neuropsychological data supporting the hypothesis that different levels of self and world representation in vertebrates rely upon (i) a "basal" subcortical system that includes brainstem, hypothalamus and central thalamic nuclei and that may underpin the primary (or anoetic) consciousness likely present in all vertebrates; and (ii) a forebrain system that include the medial and lateral structures of the cerebral hemispheres and may sustain the most sophisticated forms of consciousness [e.g., noetic (knowledge based) and autonoetic, reflective knowledge]. We posit a mutual, bidirectional functional influence between these two major brain circuits. We conclude that basic aspects of consciousness like primary self and core self (based on anoetic and noetic consciousness) are present in many species of vertebrates and that, even self-consciousness (autonoetic consciousness) does not seem to be a prerogative of humans and of some non-human primates but may, to a certain extent, be present in some other mammals and birds.
尽管世界意识和自我意识的大多数方面本质上是主观的，但对人类和非人类动物的神经科学研究提供了大脑活动与自我及世界表征之间特定联系的相关和因果指标。在本文中，我们回顾了神经解剖学、神经生理学和神经心理学数据，这些数据支持以下假设：脊椎动物中不同层次的自我和世界表征依赖于（i）一个“基础”的皮层下系统，该系统包括脑干、下丘脑和丘脑中央核，可能是所有脊椎动物中可能存在的初级（或无自我意识）意识的基础；以及（ii）一个前脑系统，包括大脑半球的内侧和外侧结构，可能维持最复杂的意识形式[例如，理性（基于知识）和自我认知、反思性知识]。我们假定这两个主要脑回路之间存在相互的、双向的功能影响。我们得出结论，许多脊椎动物物种都存在诸如初级自我和核心自我（基于无自我意识和理性意识）等意识的基本方面，而且，即使是自我意识（自我认知意识）似乎也不是人类和某些非人类灵长类动物的特权，而是在一定程度上可能存在于其他一些哺乳动物和鸟类中。
