How does the non-conscious become conscious?

Joseph E LeDoux

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.033

How does the non-conscious become conscious?

Curr Biol. 2020 Mar 9;30(5):R196-R199. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.033.

Author

Joseph E LeDoux¹

Affiliation

¹ Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 1003, USA; Department of Psychiatry, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medial School, New York, NY 1003, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA. Electronic address: ledoux@cns.nyu.edu.

PMID: 32155417
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.033

Abstract

In this My Word, Joseph LeDoux describes how his work as a graduate student got him interested in human consciousness. Although he has not studied this topic since 1970s, he never stopped thinking and writing about it during his four-decade career exploring how non-conscious processes involving the amygdala detect and respond to danger. Here, he tells us what is on his mind about consciousness these days.

MeSH terms

Cognitive Neuroscience*
Consciousness*
Humans