 | Awareness: Encyclopedia - Awareness
Awareness
In biological psychology, awareness describes an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event. Awareness does not necessarily imply understanding.
Awareness is a relative concept. An animal may be partially aware, may be subconsciously aware or may be acutely aware of an event. Awareness may be focused on an internal state, such as a visceral feeling, or on external events by way of sensory perception. Awareness provides the raw material from which animals develop qualia, or subjective ideas about their experience.
Electro-chemical networks related to the chordate nervous system facilitate awareness. Researchers have debated what minimal components are necessary for animals to be aware of environmental stimulus, though all animals have some capacity for acute reactive behavior that implies a faculty for awareness.
Popular ideas about consciousness suggest the phenomenon describes a condition of being aware of one's awareness. Efforts to describe consciousness in neurological terms have focused on describing networks in the brain that develop awareness of the qualia developed by other networks.
Neural systems that regulate attention serve to attentuate awareness among complex animals whose central and peripheral nervous system provides more information than cognitive areas of the brain can assimilate. Within an attenuated system of awareness, a mind might be aware of much more than is being contemplated in a focused extended consciousness.
When a patient goes for a surgical operation , it is desirable to temporarily make the patient unaware. Anaesthesiologists specialise in this and a major resposibility is prevent awareness during the operation. This is achieved by giving anesthetic drugs through the veins and through the lungs.
Awareness is also a concept used in CSCW. Its definition is not yet reaching a consensus in the scientific community.
See also
- Self-awareness
- Yoga Nidra
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Other related archivesCSCW, Self-awareness, Yoga Nidra, animal, attention, biological psychology, brain, central, chordate, cognitive, concept, consciousness, experience, extended consciousness, ideas, mind, nervous system, neurological, perception, peripheral nervous system, qualia, subconsciously, subjective, understanding
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Awareness", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
