Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T22:38:55.289Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Is conscious content available only to the skeletal muscle system?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2016

Andreas Keller*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065. [email protected]

Abstract

I applaud Morsella et al.'s approach to investigate consciousness in terms of behavioral control. After all, the function of the brain is to control behavior, and consciousness contributes to the function of the brain. However, I question whether conscious content is available only to the skeletal muscle system, as the principle of parallel responses into skeletal muscle (PRISM) (Morsella 2005) proposes.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Keller, A. (2014) The evolutionary function of conscious information processing is revealed by its task-dependency in the olfactory system. Frontiers in Psychology 5, article 62. (Online journal). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00062.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morsella, E. (2005) The function of phenomenal states: Supramodular interaction theory. Psychological Review 112:1000–21.Google Scholar
Power, R. P. & Thompson, W. T. (1970) Simulation of introversion and extraversion on the lemon test. British Journal of Psychology 61:9193.Google Scholar
Proctor, G. B. & Carpenter, G. H. (2007) Regulation of salivary gland function by autonomic nerves. Autonomic Neuroscience 133:318.Google Scholar
Smith, D. & Over, R. (1987) Male sexual arousal as a function of the content and the vividness of erotic fantasy. Psychophysiology 24(3):334–39.Google Scholar
Spence, C. (2011) Mouth-watering: The influence of environmental and cognitive factors on salivation and gustatory/flavor perception. Journal of Texture Studies 42:157–71.Google Scholar
White, K. D. (1978) Salivation: The significance of imagery in its voluntary control. Psychophysiology 15:196203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed