Is the body key to understanding consciousness? - The Guardian

A new understanding of the fundamental connection between mind and body explains phenomena such as phantom limbs, and has surprising implications.

Although theoretically possible, it is rooted in the flawed idea that the brain is separate from the body, and can function without it.

The idea that the mind and brain are separate from each other is usually attributed to the 17th-century mathematician and philosopher René Descartes, who believed that the body is made of matter, and the mind of some other, non-physical substance.

But most people still view the mind and brain as being distinct from the body.

Phantom limbs are a striking demonstration of the importance of the body for self-consciousness.

Mitchell recognised phantom limbs as a disturbance of bodily self-consciousness, in which the amputee retains awareness of the missing limb, and feels as if it is still attached to their body.

Phantom sensations occur because the brain creates a dynamic model of the body by integrating tactile and visual information with limb position signals from the muscles and tendons.

But when a limb or other body part is removed, the schema is not properly updated, and so it retains an imprint of the missing part.

BIID is a disturbance of bodily self-consciousness with a neurological basis, as are phantom limbs.

There is evidence to suggest that it occurs because the affected limb is not incorporated into the body schema as it develops in early childhood.

An understanding of how brain and body interact is critical for understanding the phenomena of phantom limbs and BIID.

Yet the links between the brain and body are still under-appreciated.

The new understanding of bodily self-consciousness leads us to some surprising conclusions.

If bodily awareness is the basis of self-consciousness, then it follows that bumblebees, and even robots, may possess basic consciousness.

Researchers at Columbia University’s Creative Machines Lab have developed a starfish-shaped robot with an in-built body schema, which can adjust its gait after having a limb removed.

The latest version of this robot creates its own body schema from experience.

If self-consciousness is based in bodily awareness, then it is unlikely that a lab-grown “mini-brain” could ever become conscious, as some ethicists have claimed