When observing a child mesmerized by the flickering candle on its first birthday cake, it is obvious that something deep is going on inside those innocent eyes.
But tracing this phenomenon back in time, from a curious infant to a newborn baby, and even further back to a fertilized egg, makes it increasingly difficult to describe the emergence of consciousness.
Some argue that consciousness can emerge several months after birth, shortly before the first birthday, while others claim that our first moments of awareness can be present immediately after birth.
Tim Bayne, a philosopher at Monash University in Australia, eloquently expresses the universal curiosity about what it’s like to be a baby, given that none of us can remember being a baby. Consciousness researchers are divided into those who argue for an early emergence (at birth or shortly thereafter) and those who argue for a late onset around the age of one or later.
In an effort to shed light on the current state of understanding, Bayne and a team of neuroscientists and philosophers from Australia, Germany, the US, and Ireland conducted a comprehensive review of existing literature.
Their findings indicate that there is sufficient evidence to support the idea that awareness could potentially begin well before birth, offering an argument in favor of early consciousness.
Consciousness represents the enigmatic realm of neurology, a singularity concealed by the event horizon of subjective experience that remains inaccessible to others. We can only presume that other brains, like our own, can transform acoustic vibrations into feelings of joy and sadness, electromagnetic waves into the beauty of blue skies and warm sunsets, or the scent of skin into a comforting motherly presence.
The absence of a clear demarcation between conscious actions and unconscious reactions continues to challenge researchers in their quest for a physical theory of human consciousness. Our understanding of how it functions within a fully developed brain is limited, let alone within a developing one.
The implications of this debate extend beyond the realm of neurology and touch upon areas such as computing, ethics, and even law. Historically, due to the belief that babies lacked genuine awareness, medical procedures were performed on infants with minimal or no anesthesia, assuming they did not experience distress from painful stimuli.
In their latest review, the authors present four lines of evidence supporting the idea that consciousness may emerge in close proximity to birth. These lines of evidence include advanced connectivity throughout the brain, indicators of attention, research involving the integration of information from various senses, and physical markers associated with surprise and reorientation of attention.
“Our research findings suggest that newborns possess the capacity to integrate sensory input and emerging cognitive responses into coherent conscious experiences, enabling them to comprehend the actions of others and formulate their own responses,” explains Lorina Naci, a psychologist at Trinity College London.
This does not necessarily imply that consciousness suddenly activates at birth, but rather, it implies a gradual awakening of experiences. This awakening unfolds as synapses connect, the senses intermingle, and cognitive processes construct models that evolve as new stimuli are encountered.
The debate over whether consciousness is a fragmented or complete phenomenon, whether fetuses dream, and how we can relate to a newborn’s awareness is far from settled.
As brain imaging techniques continue to advance and allow us to better map the intricate networks within the developing brain, we may eventually come to view consciousness as a continuous and evolving process.
References: https://www.sciencealert.com/consciousness-may-emerge-before-were-even-born-evidence-shows
https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(23)00214-0
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