The search for the consciousness spot in the brain continues.
At Real Clear Science, researcher Peter Coppola airs the thought that researchers may be looking in the wrong part of the brain:
In a recently published article, I reviewed over 100 years of neuroscience research to see if some brain regions are more important than others for consciousness. What I found suggests scientists who study consciousness may have been undervaluing the most ancient regions of human brains.
“Theories of Consciousness May Focus on the Wrong Part of the Brain,” September 23, 2025
More Ancient Parts
is paper, in which he argues for the importance of the more ancient parts, is open access.
One of Coppola’s findings would be very familiar to neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and myself from the research for The Immortal Mind (2025): Brain parts are in no way like parts of a machine. There can be vast differences between human persons in how they function or what happens if they are missing:
People born without the cerebellum, or the front of their cortex, can still appear conscious and live quite normal lives. However, damaging the cerebellum later in life can trigger hallucinations or change your emotions completely…
There are rare cases of children being born without most or all of their neocortex. According to medical textbooks, these people should be in a permanent vegetative state. However, there are reports that these people can feel upset, play, recognise people or show enjoyment of music. This suggests that they are having some sort of conscious experience.
These reports are striking evidence that suggests maybe the oldest parts of the brain are enough for basic consciousness. Or maybe, when you are born without a cortex, the older parts of the brain adapt to take on some of the roles of the newer parts of the brain.
“Wrong Part of the Brain,”
Probably Not Local
But all of this reasoning assumes that human consciousness — the human mind — is local. Located in one single place. It probably isn’t.
Many things — even things we take for granted as material — are not local. Consider a bank account. Where, exactly, is it? It turns out to be an idea in many people’s minds and not local at all.
Of course, local circumstances can affect something that is non-local. A hammer blow can erase consciousness. Loss of a bank card or forgetting a password can eliminate access to a bank account. But that does not make the entity itself local.
Consciousness is still the mystery of the mind, as pioneer neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield (1891–1976) concluded.
Cross-posted at Mind Matters News.