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Abstract
While consciousness has been examined extensively in its different aspects, like in philosophy, psychiatry, neurophysiology, neuroplasticity, etc., conscience though it is an equal important aspect of the human existence, which remains an unknown to a great degree as an almost transcendental aspect of the human mind. It has not been examined as thoroughly as consciousness and largely remains a "terra incognita" for its neurophysiology, brain topography, etc. Conscience and consciousness are part of a system of information that governs our experience and decision making process. The intent of this paper is to define these terms, to discuss about consciousness from both neurological and quantum physics point of view, the relationship between the dynamics of consciousness and neuroplasticity and to highlight the relationship between conscience, stress and health.
Keywords: consciousness, neuronal correlate of consciousness, neuroplasticity, conscience, free will
Conscience and Consciousness: a definition
Consciousness
The meanings of the two terms "conscience" and "consciousness" are often confused and are misunderstood by many people.
This article is an effort to clarify these meanings and to show the role of a "clear conscience" or a "troubled conscience" in health and disease.
"Consciousness" is the function of the human mind that receives and processes information, crystallizes it and then stores it or rejects it with the help of the following:
1. The five senses
2. The reasoning ability of the mind
3. Imagination and emotion
4. Memory
The five senses enable the mind to receive information, then imagination and emotion process it, reason judges it, and memory stores or rejects it.
The exact parts of the human brain [1] where those functions take place are supposedly defined by neurophysiology [2]. An important observation is that the more information one is able to gather and process, the more "aware" and the more "conscious" one becomes regarding one's internal and external world [2]. Awareness and wakefulness represent the two main components of consciousness. Awareness is defined by the content of consciousness, and arousal is defined by the level of consciousness. Awareness contains selfawareness, which perceives the internal world of thoughts, reflection, imagination, emotions, and daydreaming, as well as external awareness, which perceives the outside world with the help of the five senses. From a neurological point of view, consciousness...