The Quest for Consciousness

Consciousness is one of science's last great unsolved mysteries. How can the salty taste and crunchy texture of potato chips, the unmistakable smell of dogs after they have been in the rain, or the exhilarating feeling of hanging on tiny fingerholds many feet above the last secure foothold on a cliff, emerge from networks of neurons and their associated synaptic and molecular processes? In The Quest for Consciousness, Caltech neuroscientist Christof Koch explores the biological basis of the subjective mind in animals and people. He outlines a framework that he and Francis Crick (of the 'double helix') have constructed to come to grips with the ancient mind-body problem. At the heart of their framework is a sustained, empirical approach to discovering and characterising the neuronal correlates of consciousness - the NCC - the subtle, flickering patterns of brain activity that underlie each and every conscious experience.
Foreword by Francis Crick
Introduction to the study of consciousness
Neurons, the atoms of perception
The first steps in seeing
The primary visual cortex as a prototypical neocortical area
What are the neuronal correlates of consciousness?
The neuronal correlates of consciousness are not in the primary visual cortex
The architecture of the cerebral cortex
Going beyond the primary visual cortex
Attention and consciousness
The neuronal underpinnings of attention
Memories and consciousness
What you can do without being conscious: The zombie within
Agnosia, blindsight, epilepsy, and sleep-walking: clinical evidence for zombie agents
Some speculations on the functions of consciousness
On time and consciousness
When the mind flips: following the footprints of consciousness
Splitting the brain splits consciousness
Further speculations on thoughts and the unconscious homunculus
A framework for consciousness
An interview
Glossary
Bibliography