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For more than a century, scientists have been trying to figure out exactly what consciousness really is, how it works and where it comes from. And while many questions remain to be answered, it appears some researchers have now discovered what they call an “on/off switch” for human consciousness.
A group of researchers at George Washington University say they were able to switch off a woman’s consciousness by electrically stimulating a single area of the brain.
The researchers were performing an experiment to monitor brain signals and try to pinpoint the area of a patient’s brain that was causing her seizures using deep brain electrodes.
One of the electrodes was positioned near the claustrum- a thin sheet of neurons running between major structures of the brain. When they buzzed the area by high frequency electrical impulses, unexpectedly, the woman lost consciousness and started to stare blankly into space.
Not only did she fail to respond to audio and visual commands, but her breathing slowed down too. As soon as they stopped the stimulation, she regained her consciousness with no memory of the event happened.
They continued this experiment for more than two days to confirm that they were affecting the woman’s consciousness rather than her ability to speak and move. During this period, they asked her to perform certain tasks such as repeating a word or snapping her fingers just before the stimulation began. What they observed is she spoke more quietly and moved very little before she drifted into unconsciousness.
Agencies/Canadajournal
