experiencing sensation

  1. The first of the four areas making up the conscious pathways, Area 1, begins at the body’s sensory groups, and continues on to a set of neuron groups packed together near the center of the brain—the thalamus.10- cotton to T
  1. As we trace energy through a series of linked neuron groups from a sensory group to the thalamus, as are energized by impulse trails, we’ll see how we experience sensation in us.
  1. To start, in Area 1, we see how impulsing monitors the states of energy we are exposed to. These forms of energy from the body and the environment include energy such as light waves, pressure, chemicals and sound waves.
  1. When a sensory group absorbs a pattern of energy–as it’s designed to—a pattern of the group’s neurons are energized, changing the character of the sensory group
  1. This pattern of energy is immediately translated to another form of energy—the electro-chemical energy we call impulses. So these patterns of impulses are the language of nervous system. 8- cotton ball
  1. The group’s new character is then expressed as a pattern of impulses is generated to next neuron group, in the linkage from the sensory group to the thalamus, whose character is also changed
  1. One by one the neuron groups are energized in turn, so that each linked neuron group changes and updates its character in turn (depending on particular incoming impulse pattern it absorbs) until a pattern of impulses reaches thalamus. 9- cotton to pre-t
  1. At the thalamus, the evolving impulse trail then splits to energize a set of thalamus groups representing the qualities making up a conscious instant10- cotton to T
  1. Some of these qualities are sense-specific, and some are inter-sensory: For example, sense-specific qualities of vision, are the color blue and the edges of a line. While the qualities of softness or sharpness, for example, are inter-sensory qualities.11- at Thal split
  1. Trail of energized neurons occurs so quickly, we feel them together—as a unit. And together, we experience these energized neuron groups are experienced as a single instant of sensation.10- cotton to T
  1. The character of the conscious instant we experience in us depends on the sources of the trail and the patterns of energized neurons simultaneously making up each of the component neuron group
  1. At this point, we can propose a key corollary to the impulsing model: As each trail passes and energizes the thalamus, the character of a conscious instant is refined, and as the thalamus is energized, we experience a single conscious instant. It’s like adding a single frame onto a reel of film that is being experienced.