Standard consciousness glossary

self-and-social-cognition · intermediate

Narrative Self

The sense of self constructed through an ongoing, autobiographical story a person tells about their own life, connecting past experiences, present identity, and anticipated future into a coherent personal narrative. It is distinguished by some theorists from a more minimal, moment-to-moment sense of self that does not depend on this extended, story-like structure.

clinical-and-disorders · intermediate

Neglect Syndrome

Also called: hemispatial neglect

A neurological condition, usually following damage to the right parietal lobe, in which a person fails to attend to or acknowledge stimuli on one side of space, typically the left, despite having no basic sensory impairment on that side. Affected patients may eat food from only one side of a plate, or fail to shave or apply makeup to one side of the face, without being aware of the omission.

consciousness-theories · intermediate

Neural Binding Problem

Also called: binding problem

The question of how the brain combines separately processed features of a stimulus, such as an object's colour, shape, and motion, which are handled by different specialised brain regions, into a single, unified conscious perception. Proposed solutions include the synchronisation of neural firing across regions processing different features of the same object.

neuroscience · intermediate

Neural Correlates of Consciousness

Also called: NCC

The minimal set of neural events and structures sufficient, on their own, to give rise to a specific conscious experience, a concept used to organise empirical research on consciousness without requiring a settled theory of what consciousness ultimately is. Researchers look for patterns of brain activity that reliably track what a person reports experiencing, distinguishing them from activity that merely enables or precedes conscious perception.

neuroscience · intro

Neuron

The basic signaling cell of the nervous system, specialised to receive, process, and transmit information as electrical and chemical signals. A typical neuron has dendrites that receive input, a cell body that integrates it, and an axon that carries an output signal to other neurons. The human brain contains on the order of 86 billion neurons, each forming thousands of connections with others.

neuroscience · intro

Neurotransmitter

A chemical messenger released by a neuron at a synapse that binds to receptors on a target cell, either exciting or inhibiting its activity. Well-known examples include dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and GABA, each associated with distinct roles across mood, movement, arousal, and cognition. Many psychiatric medications work by altering neurotransmitter levels or receptor activity.

sleep-and-altered-states · intro

Non-REM Sleep

Also called: nrem sleep

The stages of sleep other than REM sleep, comprising light sleep and deep, slow-wave sleep, characterised by progressively slower brain waves and reduced responsiveness to external stimuli. Deep non-REM sleep is considered particularly important for physical restoration and for certain forms of memory consolidation.