Consciousness Lost and Found

A Neuropsychological Exploration

Lawrence Weiskrantz

It has been discovered that many brain damaged individuals retain intact capacities in what is known as `covert' processing. A blind patient, then, may actually be able to "see" while an amnesiac patient can learn and retain information that he or she does not realize is memory. Weiskrantz uses his research into this phenomenon as a springboard toward a philosophical argument which, combined with the latest brain imaging studies, points the way to specific brain structures which may be involved in conscious awareness.

Consciousness Lost and Found

A Neuropsychological Exploration

Lawrence Weiskrantz

Description

The phenomenon of "consciousness" is intrinsically related to one's awareness of one's self, of time, and of the physical world. But what if something should happen to impair one's awareness? What do we make of "consciousness" in those people who have suffered brain damage? These questions and more are explored by Lawrence Weiskrantz, a distinguished neuropsychologist, in this unparalleled look at human awareness.
It has been discovered that many brain damaged individuals retain intact capacities in what is known as `covert' processing. A blind patient, then, may actually be able to "see" while an amnesiac patient can learn and retain information that he or she does not realize is memory. In fact, in every major class of defect in which patients lose cognitive ability are examples of preserved capacities.
Weiskrantz uses his research into this phenomenon as a springboard toward a philosophical argument which, combined with the latest brain imaging studies, points the way to specific brain structures which may be involved in conscious awareness. He then takes his argument further, asking whether animals who share much the same brain anatomy as humans share awareness and how that impacts our assumptions about evolution as well as our moral and ethical decision making. Written in an engaging, easy-to-read style, Consciousness Lost and Found provides a unique perspective on one of the most challenging issues in today's scientific community.

Consciousness Lost and Found

A Neuropsychological Exploration

Lawrence Weiskrantz

Introduction
1. The unseen and the unknown
2. Deficits, degradation, and dissociations
3. The 'What?' of consciousness
4. Animal consciousness--the problem of 'Whether?'
5. The memory commentary is NOW
6. Attributes and possible pathways of residual visual capacity
7. The evolutionary 'Why?'
8. The question of 'How?'
9. And so. . . .
Appendix: terminology and other boring matters
Glossary
References
Author index
Subject index

Consciousness Lost and Found

A Neuropsychological Exploration

Lawrence Weiskrantz

Author Information

One of the century's most distinguished neuropsychologists, Lawrence Weiskrantz is a Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University.

Consciousness Lost and Found

A Neuropsychological Exploration

Lawrence Weiskrantz

Reviews and Awards

"The book is, in part, about science as it is being made. It is a clear and elegant account, sometimes argumentative and frequently witty. Most of it is accessible to a nonprofessional in the field, but it helps to have some knowledge of neuroanatomy . . . Consciousness Lost and Found is an important contribution to the expanding field of consciousness studies." --The Quarterly Review of Biology