Memory, awareness, and vigilance
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Memory circuits do not need to be
constantly active.
Centers of environmental awareness
must remain continuously active, and
invoke activity from the memory
system as needed.
Fisch (1970) pointed out that
hearing functions all the time, even
during sleep, and that hearing is
the sense that continuously keeps
us in touch with the environment [5].
Could the inferior colliculus be the
vigilance center of the brain?
Could this small nucleus in the
midbrain auditory pathway play a
special role in awareness and the
conscious state?
Could deficits of attention,
awareness, or consciousness result
with injury or impairment of function
in the inferior colliculi?
Could anomalies of auditory
experience (as in schizophrenia or
childhood autism) be linked to
disruption of neurotransmitter actions
in the inferior colliculi?
Localization of sounds and maintaining focus
on a particular sound source in background
noise are functions attributed to the inferior
colliculus, by neurons that detect novelty or
habituate to ongoing sounds >>>
Ablation of the lateral lemnisci or brachium
of the inferior colliculi resulted in serious
deficits of attention in older experiments
with animals. >>>
