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Some states occur Daydreaming and
spontaneously drowsiness Flow Dreaming
INSADCO Photography/Alamy Stock Photo

Some are physio- Food or oxygen
logically induced Hallucinations Orgasm starvation

Some are psycho- Sensory
logically induced deprivation Hypnosis Meditation

Figure 1.5-1
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
Altered states of consciousness

In addition to normal, waking awareness, consciousness comes to us in altered states, including daydreaming, sleeping, drug-
induced hallucinating, meditating, and hypnosis. (More on meditating in Module 5.1 and hypnosis in Module 5.5.)
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.

®
AP Science Practice Check Your Understanding
Examine the Concept Apply the Concept
▶ ▶Explain consciousness. ▶ ▶Compare and contrast the different states of consciousness.
▶ ▶What are some examples of things you do on “autopilot”?
What behaviors require your conscious attention?

Answers to the Examine the Concept questions can be found in Appendix C at the end of the book.

Cognitive Neuroscience

How does the brain make the mind? Researchers call this the “hard problem”: How do
brain cells jabbering to one another create our awareness of the taste of toast, the idea of
infinity, the feeling of fright? The question of how consciousness arises from the mate-
rial brain is one of life’s deepest mysteries. Such questions lie at the heart of cognitive
neuroscience — the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with our mental
processes.
If you just think about kicking a soccer ball, an fMRI scan could detect increased blood
flow to the brain region that plans such action. In one study, researchers asked skilled soccer
players to imagine they were making either creative moves (complex bicycle kicks) or ordi-
nary moves (simply kicking the ball from foot to foot). Scans showed that thinking about
creative moves produced the most coordinated brain activity across different brain regions
(Fink et al., 2019).
If brain activity can reveal conscious thinking, could brain scans allow us to discern
mental activity in unresponsive patients? Yes. A stunning demonstration of conscious-
ness appeared in brain scans of a noncommunicative patient — a 23-year-old woman
who had been in a car accident and showed no outward signs of conscious awareness
cognitive neuroscience (Owen, 2017a; Owen et al., 2006). When researchers asked her to imagine playing tennis,
the interdisciplinary study fMRI scans revealed activity in a brain area that normally controls arm and leg movements
of the brain activity linked (Figure 1.5-2). Even in a motionless, noncommunicative body, researchers concluded, the
with cognition (thinking,
knowing, remembering, and brain — and the mind — may still be active. Follow-up studies of brain activity in dozens
communicating). of unresponsive patients suggest that 15 to 30 percent may be experiencing meaningful
conscious awareness (Claassen et al., 2019; Owen, 2017b).

88 Unit 1 Biological Bases of Behavior

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