Brandon.ramirez615

During deep sleep, do the inactive parts of your brains have waves?

What country are you people from? I'm new to this website, I'm from the United States.

This discussion thread is posted to the Neuroscience Forum. Perhaps the quality you are discussing or want to discuss is best suited for the Philosophy or Religion Forum? There, perhaps, you may find respondents more amenable to your perspective.

 

But then I'll have to deal with religious people and their answers?

 

I believe we are, individually, a collective of the knowledge and insight we've amassed through life experience. What we've learned, our experiences, and the memories we hold influence who we are and how we express that quality. Although we may not be consciously aware during sleep, that lack of awareness doesn't suggest we die when we sleep. Regardless of what some of us may believe, true death occurs when our brain activity stops. Sleep isn't brain death and brain activity doesn't stop when we sleep.

 

 

Well, two quotes from that link:

 

 

The idea that consciousness resides in the prefrontal cortex is false, which is proved by patients who have received and survived leucotomy. Leucotomy--procedurally reduced and renamed lobotomy--is a psychosurgery procedure that separates the prefrontal cortex from the rest of the brain, effectively, rendering the prefrontal cortex inactive. Although leucotomy alters certain behavioral expressions and qualities, it doesn't render patients brain dead or without awareness when performed correctly. Consciousness involves a confluence of brain activity that is not entirely dependent on prefrontal function. An inactive prefrontal merely changes the quality of consciousness expression rather than cause its cessation.

 

 

These initial paragraphs set the tone for the rest of the article. A teacher can have knowledge of neuroscience without being a neuroscientist; however, in this case, this teacher appears to have erred in his understanding of brain function, which renders the basis for his article without sufficient support in generally accepted science. There's considerably more to the nature of sleep and the nature of consciousness in sleep than some of us may have actually studied. That study should, if I may suggest, begin with a clear perspective of brain evolution--as should all functional investigations of the brain should begin, in my opinion.

You know a lot, do you have a degree in science?

To answer your question, first we have to make sure we both agree on some basic definition of consciousness. Basically, consciousness is merely awareness of experience and evidence of that awareness as suggested by perceived behavior. Second, we should agree that consciousness is a product of brain activity and function; therefore, consciousness can exist so long as there is evidence of brain activity and function. However, not all brain activity produces evidence of consciousness. There are stages in sleep that produce little to no evidence that the sleeper is aware of experience, physical or otherwise. Evidence of awareness in sleep is primarily suggested by the stages of sleep wherein rapid eye movement (REM) occurs. REM is usually coupled with the experience of dreaming, which is an alter state of wakeful activity in brain function. During REM, some brain areas can and frequently do reach levels of activity that exceed our conscious or wakeful levels. Those wakeful levels and our recall of dreams combine to suggest a consciousness or awareness in sleep, primarily during sleep's REM stages. The short answer to your question is that consciousness still exist in sleep because consciousness is a product of brain activity and that activity doesn't stop even in sleep. The truest evidence of consciousness nonexistence occurs at brain death when minimal to no brain activity is detected.

 

Regarding sensory "pick up" or detection in sleep, their is experimental evidence that suggest our brain is able to detect sensory stimuli through all phases of sleeps.

 

So do you believe we are our awareness and when it fades away during sleep, that we die?

Really? You have empirical evidence in science of "Consciousness in other brains after someone dies"? I invite you to post that evidence here, I'm very interested in reviewing it.

 

 

 

I haven't received or reviewed any credible evidence, from legitimate scientific sources and investigations, suggesting its possibility; therefore, no, I do not believe reincarnation is possible.

 

To answer your question, first we have to make sure we both agree on some basic definition of consciousness. Basically, consciousness is merely awareness of experience and evidence of that awareness as suggested by perceived behavior. Second, we should agree that consciousness is a product of brain activity and function; therefore, consciousness can exist so long as there is evidence of brain activity and function. However, not all brain activity produces evidence of consciousness. There are stages in sleep that produce little to no evidence that the sleeper is aware of experience, physical or otherwise. Evidence of awareness in sleep is primarily suggested by the stages of sleep wherein rapid eye movement (REM) occurs. REM is usually coupled with the experience of dreaming, which is an alter state of wakeful activity in brain function. During REM, some brain areas can and frequently do reach levels of activity that exceed our conscious or wakeful levels. Those wakeful levels and our recall of dreams combine to suggest a consciousness or awareness in sleep, primarily during sleep's REM stages. The short answer to your question is that consciousness still exist in sleep because consciousness is a product of brain activity and that activity doesn't stop even in sleep. The truest evidence of consciousness nonexistence occurs at brain death when minimal to no brain activity is detected.

 

Regarding sensory "pick up" or detection in sleep, their is experimental evidence that suggest our brain is able to detect sensory stimuli through all phases of sleeps.

 

What do you think about http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1049286

I was wondering what happens to your consciousness when you go to sleep? Does it it cease to exist or does your brain enter a stage in which it still exists but your your senses don't pick up anything?