A new theory about the origins of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in
the evolutionary transition to basic consciousness. What marked the evolutionary transition …

While the philosophical puzzles about “life” that once confounded biology have all been
solved by science, much of the “mystery of consciousness” remains unsolved due to multiple …

Since antiquity, the sense of smell (olfaction) is considered as a distance sense, just like
sight and hearing. Conversely, the sense of taste (gustation) is thought to operate by direct …

“A first-class intellectual adventure.”—Brian Greene, author of Until the End of Time
Illuminating his groundbreaking theory of consciousness, known as the attention schema …

The minimal state of consciousness is sentience. This includes any phenomenal sensory
experience–exteroceptive, such as vision and olfaction; interoceptive, such as pain and …

Similar design characterizes neuronal networks for goal-directed motor control across the
complex, segmented vertebrates, insects, and polychaete annelids with jointed …

Nervous systems of vertebrates and invertebrates show a common modular theme in the
flow of information for cost-benefit decisions. Sensory inputs are incentivized by integrating …

Molluscan gastropods have long been used for studying the cellular and molecular
mechanisms underlying learning and memory. One such gastropod, the pond snail …

Relatively little is known about how peripheral nervous systems (PNSs) contribute to the
patterning of behavior in which their role transcends the simple execution of central motor …

Abstract The catecholamine 3, 4-dihydroxyphenethylamine, or dopamine, acts as a
neurotransmitter across a broad phylogenetic spectrum. Functions attributed to dopamine in …