The Neural Self
According to Antonio Damásio, the process of making images, and the wakefulness and arousal that are needed for the formation of them are just as relevant as the Self. We experience the Self as the observer, knower and owner of those images.
The neural basis for the Self appears to be connected to endlessly updated representations of:
- memories from key events from which the Self derives its various identifications, such as what it does, likes, dislikes, etc., that are stored in various brain regions,
- memories of facts about the Self, that are constantly activated, such as details of names and places where it and its friends and relatives live and work,
- memories of very recent events and imaginary future events that are expected to happen,
- memories of certain structures, people, and events that are uniquely and repeatedly activated in dreams.
and: - ancient, outdated and updated memories of the state of the body, including background and emotional states, but particularly the states before, during, and after the processing of images of a moving or still object observed in the past.
