The Human Consciousness Project

[Balder]

In the Eye of Spirit, Wilber mentions the Human Consciousness Project, which he compares to the Human Genome Project -- a worldwide, multi-disciplinary effort to map human consciousness.  This morning, coming across this reference again, I decided to look it up.  It looks like the Human Consciousness Project is being sponsored by The Nour Foundation, an organization which is dedicated to the study of the intersection of science, the humanities, and spirituality.

 

Here is a summary of The Human Consciousness Project from the website:

 

The Human Consciousness Project is an international consortium of multidisciplinary scientists and physicians who have joined forces to research the nature of consciousness and its relationship with the brain, as well as the neuronal processes that mediate and correspond to different facets of consciousness. The Human Consciousness Project will conduct the world’s first large-scale scientific study of what happens when we die and the relationship between mind and brain during clinical death. The diverse expertise of the team ranges from cardiac arrest, near-death experiences, and neuroscience to neuroimaging, critical care, emergency medicine, immunology, molecular biology, mental health, and psychiatry.

 

The mystery of what happens when we die and the nature of the human mind has fascinated humankind from antiquity to the present day. Although traditionally considered a matter for philosophical debate, advancements in modern science and in particular the science of resuscitation have now enabled an objective, scientific approach to seek answers to these compelling questions, which bear widespread implications not only for science, but also for all of humanity.

 

Since the 1950s and 60s, marked improvements in resuscitation techniques have led to higher survival rates for patients experiencing cardiac arrest. Although many studies have focused on prevention and acute medical treatment of cardiac arrest, relatively few have sought to examine cognitive functioning and the state of the human mind both during and subsequent to cardiac arrest. The in-depth study of such patients, however, could serve as the most intriguing facet of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and may lead to significant progress in improving medical care while effectively addressing the mind-brain problem.

 

Today, most scientists have adopted a traditionally monist view of the mind-brain problem, arguing that the human mind, consciousness, and self are no more than by-products of electrochemical activity within the brain, notwithstanding the lack of any scientific evidence or even a plausible biological explanation as to how the brain would lead to the development of mind and consciousness. This has led some prominent researchers, such as the late Nobel-winning neuroscientist Sir John Eccles, to propose a dualist view of the problem, arguing that the human mind and consciousness may in fact constitute a separate, undiscovered entity apart from the brain.

Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific moment, but a well-defined process. From a biological viewpoint, cardiac arrest is synonymous with clinical death. During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of clinical death are present: the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working, and the brain ceases functioning. Subsequently, there is a period of time—which may last from a few seconds up to an hour or longer—in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in resuscitating the heart and reversing the dying process. The experiences that individuals undergo during this period of cardiac arrest provide a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to experience during the dying process.

 

In recent years, a number of scientific studies conducted by independent researchers have found that as many as 10-20 percent of individuals who undergo cardiac arrest report lucid, well-structured thought processes, reasoning, memories, and sometimes detailed recall of their cardiac arrest. What makes these experiences remarkable is that while studies of the brain during cardiac arrest have consistently that there is no brain activity during this period, these individuals have reported detailed perceptions that appear to indicate the presence of a high-level of consciousness in the absence of measurable brain activity.

 

These studies appear to suggest that the human mind and consciousness may in fact function at a time when the clinical criteria of death are fully present and the brain has ceased functioning. If these smaller studies can be replicated and verified through the definitive, large-scale studies of the Human Consciousness Project, they may not only revolutionize the medical care of critically ill patients and the scientific study of the mind and brain, but may also bear profound universal implications for our social understanding of death and the dying process.

 

The Nour Foundation site also appears to have a collection of videos, some of which might be worth checking out.

[Douglas R Wallack]

Hey Bruce,
Thanks for posting this! I listened to about 7 mins of the featured talk and browsed the immense number of video titles. All very interesting ... a very rich resource.
I need to clone myself to have enough time for all the "INPUT", eh? (Reminds me of an old favorite movie, "Short Circuit"... "Need Input!", #5 is Alive ;-)
Cheers,
Doug

[Edward theurj Berge]

notwithstanding the lack of any scientific evidence or even a plausible biological explanation as to how the brain would lead to the development of mind and consciousness.

We don't see what we don't want to see... Come on, the cogscipragos have a most plausible explanation of this mind-brain connection. WTF!

These studies appear to suggest that the human mind and consciousness may in fact function at a time when the clinical criteria of death are fully present and the brain has ceased functioning.

Likewise we see what we want to see. They suggest no such thing. The "experiences" one has "after death" are likely occurring during death, during the mind-brain's shut down. Upon revival they remember those last thoughts, since the brain is not irreparably damaged until rot sets in, which takes about an hour or so. Or much longer if one is frozen or other such conditions. Get over it everyone. You fricken die!

[kelamuni]

Ed, we could start a parallel organization: The Dour Foundation. :-)

[Edward theurj Berge]

I know you're being jokingly facetious kela. But at root of this consciousness research, as we've discussed ad nauseum, is the belief in consciousness as the fundamental cause of existence and hence its survival after death. Can you get any more metaphysical?

[andrew]

Nope! but i have an affinity for all things murky as much as i share the bright ethos:) the universe/s sure is/are super though!
could it be that i'm a dennett trinitarian?