How The Brain Managed to Name Itself

One of the most impressive feats of the brain is its ability to recognize itself. Although the mystery of perspective and cognizance has puzzled scientists for decades, neuroscience has provided some semblance of an explanation as to how the human mind is aware of itself.

As a concept, consciousness is awareness of oneself, as well as awareness of oneself in relation to others. This sense of self is developed at a young age. As children’s brains develop, sensory input causes signals to travel through the thalamus, a part of the brain responsible for sorting and transmitting information within the brain. 

A Yale study analyzed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from over 1,500 participants, studying how sensory input makes use of subcortical systems, which control instinctive movements and feelings, memory storage, and body balance. They found that the human senses trigger signals in both the midbrain reticular formation—the region that controls sensory filtering and wakefulness—and the central thalamus. When these signals are amplified by external attention, the brain categorizes the types of sensations and the reactions each produces. Over time, separate sensory clues are pieced together to create a subjective outlook on life and an individual set of behaviors. 

Repeated behaviors allow children to mentally categorize information, organizing their knowledge base until their responses are automatic. Gradually, using external stimuli and repetitive actions, adults can cultivate a child’s imagination. In a classroom setting, for instance, teachers illustrate “good behavior” through modeling it themselves. Teaching kids to raise their hands, respect each other’s spaces, and work together encourages children to mirror behaviors like these. As they do, they begin to understand the underlying concepts: patience, respect, and teamwork. 

Because children have a more abstract worldview that mainly relies on concept repetition, they depend more on their senses to process information and make sense of intellectual notions. Their personal experiences shape these different intellectual notions—and ultimately, their sense of self.

To understand how the mind perceives others’ actions and then its own perception of that, it is necessary to understand what is going on in the brain at a physical level. The brain is composed of electromagnetic phenomena, a system of neurons responsible for the signaling and processing of information and activities, creating a first-person perspective. However, consciousness is not just being able to think about oneself, but also being able to make sense of the things around oneself. This is where mirror neurons come into play.

Through a study of cells in monkeys, Italian neurophysiologists discovered that primates have mirror neurons in their cortices. When observing actions, mirror neurons fire the same signals as the observed action. By using their mirror neurons, children are able to learn from adults through imitation. Later on, a UCLA scientist found that mirror neurons also help process intention behind actions. Furthermore, when the intention of the mirrored action is understood, these neurons are more active because the stream of consciousness that mirror neurons develop is a pattern of identifying senses and storing them in a memory bank so the brain can easily link current events to future ones.

As these patterns merge with personal experiences, people’s memories allow them to maintain a distinct sense of self and build a sense of awareness. Mirror neurons give a subject the ability to reflect on itself so it is able to distinguish between itself and its actions, and truly think about what it is doing. As one gradually becomes aware of their awareness, they build their own limits for their thoughts. 

In learning how to respond and react appropriately to receive affection, children develop the ability to separate themselves from others as they can feel emotions apart from their own, developing empathy. Eventually, they’re able to internalize them in a meaningful way that leads to critical thinking. They notice when people look at them weirdly, and that makes them self-conscious. They understand that when they receive praise for doing something well, they can keep doing it to receive the same outward approval. This co-consciousness shapes their own sense of self as they begin to recall memories and categorize them.

Beyond the activity of mirror neurons in childhood, there are several processes in the brain that lead to awareness. Sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons are a huge part of connecting individual senses to thoughts and actions.

Sensory neurons fire when a sense is triggered by an external stimulus. For example, rinsing one’s hands under boiling water would activate one’s sensory neurons. It is a pseudounipolar neuron, so it splits into two paths: one into a central branch (the brain), and one into a peripheral branch (the body). Because the signal is able to bypass the cell body entirely, it is sent to body parts without slowing down, triggering fast body reactions.

The signal then passes through the axon and releases neurotransmitters into synapses, which link and maintain connections between neurons. Then the receiver cell either activates or remains dormant. Through interneurons, the information from the sensory neurons is transmitted over to the motor neurons, which control muscle impulses. For example, motor neurons are what make people impulsively retract their hand when they feel the burning sensation of the water. 

All of these impulsive actions build memorable awareness in the brain; that awareness combines with the co-consciousness the brain has developed to form consciousness.

There is still much to be discovered about the brain’s neuroscience, but the knowledge we do have may prove useful in ameliorating brain disorders and combating dysfunctional neurons. Understanding that these neurological behaviors work with mirror neurons and individual sensory neurons can help improve cognitive functions in autism and develop specialized treatments for schizophrenia. Regardless of how it came to be, the ability to have such a deep awareness of abstract constructs gives people a unique viewpoint on each other and the universe as a whole.