Vijay Shankar Sharma
Textbook neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and clinical terms. Not a reinterpretation of Vijay's Law or the Consciousness Index. 148 terms. Textbook meanings only.
15 terms. Page 1 of 1.
sleep-and-altered-states · intermediate
A temporary loss of the ordinary subjective sense of being a distinct, bounded self, sometimes accompanied by a felt sense of unity with one's surroundings or with the world at large. It is most commonly reported during intense psychedelic experiences, deep meditative states, or certain unusual neurological and psychiatric conditions.
philosophy-of-mind · intermediate
The view that some or all of our everyday, common-sense mental concepts, such as beliefs and desires, do not correspond to anything real and should eventually be eliminated in favour of a more accurate neuroscientific vocabulary, much as folk theories about heat as an invisible fluid were eventually replaced by molecular kinetic theory. It is a minority but influential position within physicalist philosophy of mind.
consciousness-theories · intermediate
The view that cognitive processes are deeply shaped by, and dependent on, the body's physical form and its interactions with the environment, rather than occurring in an abstract mental space independent of bodily structure. On this view, concepts like understanding or reasoning cannot be fully explained by brain activity alone, without reference to the body's sensorimotor engagement with the world.
philosophy-of-mind · intermediate
The view that consciousness arises, or emerges, from complex physical systems such as brains once they reach a sufficient level of organisation or complexity, without being present in any of the system's simpler parts. It is a common alternative to both panpsychism, which posits consciousness at the most basic level, and strict reductive physicalism, which holds mental properties are nothing over and above physical ones.
self-and-social-cognition · intro
A complex psychological and physiological state involving subjective feeling, bodily changes, and characteristic expressive and behavioural responses, typically triggered by an evaluation of a situation as relevant to one's goals or wellbeing. Theories of emotion differ on how central bodily and interoceptive signals are to the felt quality of an emotional experience, versus purely cognitive appraisal.
self-and-social-cognition · intro
The capacity to understand and share the feelings of another person, often distinguished into a cognitive component (understanding what another person is feeling) and an affective component (actually feeling a resonant emotional response). Both components are studied in relation to distinct, though overlapping, neural systems.
consciousness-theories · intermediate
A theoretical approach holding that cognition arises through a dynamic interaction between an organism and its environment, through ongoing sensorimotor activity, rather than through the brain passively representing an external, pre-given world. It is closely related to embodied cognition and challenges purely computational, representation-focused models of mind.
clinical-and-disorders · intro
A sudden, abnormal burst of synchronised electrical activity in the brain, which can produce a wide range of effects depending on the brain regions involved, from brief lapses in awareness to full-body convulsions. Seizures that involve widespread cortical disruption commonly cause at least a temporary loss or alteration of consciousness.
philosophy-of-mind · intermediate
The view that mental states, including conscious experience, are caused by physical processes in the brain but have no causal influence on the physical world in return, making consciousness a byproduct that accompanies brain activity without itself doing any causal work. Critics argue this sits uneasily with the intuitive sense that thoughts and feelings do influence our actions.
cognitive-science · intro
The form of long-term, explicit memory for specific personal events and experiences, including their time and place, as distinguished from semantic memory for general facts and knowledge. Recalling a specific birthday party is episodic memory; knowing that birthdays are celebrated annually is semantic memory. The hippocampus plays a central role in forming new episodic memories.
cognitive-science · intro
A set of higher-order cognitive processes, including planning, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory, that allow goal-directed behaviour and the regulation of thought and action, particularly in novel or complex situations. These functions are strongly associated with the prefrontal cortex, and they continue developing into early adulthood.
philosophy-of-mind · intermediate
The apparent gap between physical descriptions of brain processes and explanations of why those processes are accompanied by subjective experience, such that even a complete physical account of the brain seems to leave the question of why there is subjective experience at all unanswered. The term was introduced by philosopher Joseph Levine to describe this persistent explanatory shortfall, independent of whether consciousness is ultimately physical.
cognitive-science · intro
Also called: declarative memory
A form of long-term memory that is deliberately and consciously recollected, including memory for facts (semantic memory) and personal experiences (episodic memory). It is distinguished from implicit memory, which influences behaviour without requiring conscious recall.
consciousness-theories · intermediate
A view proposed by philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers holding that cognitive processes can extend beyond the brain and body to include external tools and objects, such as a notebook used reliably to store and retrieve information, when those tools are functionally integrated into a person's cognitive processes in the same way memory ordinarily is.
perception · intro
The sense of stimuli originating outside the body, conveyed through the traditional external senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. It is generally contrasted with interoception, the sense of the body's internal physiological state, and proprioception, the sense of the body's own position and movement.