What strucures of one's brain causes his selfawareness?

[pagetwo]

If I died, which structures of my brain to be rebuilt would let me know I'm back? If someone creates another brain with the same structures as I have, will I have the feeling that I have two brains? I mean if the body that the brain controls was hurt will I feel his pain? If the body is making love, will I feel his excitement? Can I feel all his desires, passions, happiness, fears, etc. etc. If I can't, then where is my selfawareness really from? The unique materials which form my brain? But won't my metabolizm interferes that? I'm really bewilldered! In short, If I die, will my selfawareness vanish? If it will, will I get all my feelings back ever, naturally or artificially?

[lucaspa]

If I died, which structures of my brain to be rebuilt would let me know I'm back?

 

We don't know. It's not known where the idea of "self" resides. Some data indicates that part of self-awareness resides in the frontal lobe (see first reference below), but it is not known for sure. Partly it is the sense of propioception: that you know where the parts of your body are in space even without looking. People with defects in propioception say that they feel "out of their body" and not really a "self".

 

Some places to start reading on the subject are:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=142635

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4M04NXY-3&_user=5751&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000001378&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=5751&md5=027d2147d1f376ad1bd2891c7082459c

 

If someone creates another brain with the same structures as I have, will I have the feeling that I have two brains?

 

Probably not. After all, twins don't feel that they have two brains, and they have another individual with the same structures they have. They don't feel the other one get hurt or sexual excitement. The main difference is: even if you have the same structures, you are not getting the same sensory input.

 

If I can't, then where is my selfawareness really from? The unique materials which form my brain?

 

Not the materials, but the connections between neurons. Even with the same structures, you won't necessarily have the same connections between neurons. You would have a network of, say, neuron A to B to C to D. Because of different sensory inputs and possibly quantum effects, the other brain would have a network of A to B to D to C.

 

If I die, will my selfawareness vanish? If it will, will I get all my feelings back ever, naturally or artificially?

 

According to various religious beliefs -- no, self-awareness doen't vanish. For instance, according to the story, Lazarus got his self-awareness back. However, from the point of view of science, that story is not reliable. Science doesn't know. There are numerous incidents of self-awareness after "clinical" death: no heartbeat and no breathing. How long this Near Death Experience lasts is unknown. Does it last beyond the point that all electrical activity in the brain has ceased? Don't know. No one has ever been resusitated after that point -- yet.