• Unos determinados sucesos pueden ser de ayuda en la memoria activa que se emplea cada minuto en decisiones y acciones. Esto está estrechamente relacionado con la atención.
• La memoria puede ser recuperada o evocada de modo espacial o temporal.
• Las memorias se activan al procesar información relevante.
• Existe un almacén potencial de memoria a largo plazo que es necesario para desarrollar conductas complejas por el individuo.
• La toma de decisiones se da para la acción y depende de las funciones atencionales, de partes concretas de la entrada sensorial, las respuestas motoras y las funciones emocionales.
• La cognición o pensamiento son considerados tradicionalmente como niveles altos de las funciones cognitivas, por ejemplo el razonamiento deductivo, e implica los puntos anteriores señalados.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

1. Edelman, G.M. Neural Darwinism, the theory of neuronal group selection. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1989.
2. Searle, J.R. Consciousness. Annual Rev Neuroscience. 2000; 23, 557-578.
3. Eccles, J.C. La evolución del cerebro: creación de la conciencia. Labor, Barcelona; 1992.
4. Marcel, A., Bisiach, E. Consciousness in Contemporary Science. Oxford, Oxford Unicersity Press; 1988.
5. Tassi, P., Muzet, A. Defining the states of consciousness. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 2001; 25, 175-191.
6. Dennett, D.C. Tipos de Mentes. Hacia una comprensión de la consciencia. Barcelona: Editorial Debate; 2000.
7. Crick, F., Koch, C. El problema de la consciencia. Investigación y Ciencia. 1992; 115-122.
8. Crick, F. La búsqueda científica del alma. Una revolucionaria hipótesis para el siglo XXI. Madrid: Debate S.A.; 1994.
9. Niedermeyer, E. Consciousness: Function and Definition. Clinical Electroencephalography.1994; 25, 86-93.
10. Niedermeyer, E.A. Concept of consciousness. Italian Journal of Neurological Sciences. 1999; 20, 1, 7-15
11. Roig, C., Marruecos, L., Net, A. Aspectos fisiopatologícos y terapeuticos en el coma. En Net, A. y Marruecos, L. (Eds). Neurología Crítica. (111-128). Barcelona: Springer-Verlag Ibérica; 1994.
12. Balkin, T.J., Braun, A.R., Wesensten, N.J., Jeffries, K, Varga, M, Baldwin, P, Belenky G., Herscovitch, P. The process of awakening: a PET study of regional brain activity patterns mediating the re-establishment of alertness and consciosness. Brain. 2002; 2308-2319.
13. Young, P.A., Young, P.H. Neuroanatomía Clínica Funcional. Barcelona, Masson-Williams & Wilkins; 1998.
14. Young, G.B. The EEG in coma. Journal Clinical Neurophysiollogy. 2000; 17: 5, 473-85.
15. Mountcastle, V.B., Andersen, R.A., Motter, B.C. The influence of attention fixation upon excitability of light sensitive neurons of the posterior parietal cortex. J Neuroscience. 1981; 1, 1218.
16. Gray, C.M., Engel, A.K., König, P., Singer, W. Mechanisms underlying the generation of neural oscillations in cat visual cortex. En Bazar, E., Bullock y T.H. (eds). Induced Rhythms in the Brain. (33-45). Boston: Birkhäuser; 1991.
17. Penrose, R. Las sombras de la mente. Barcelona: Crítica; 1996.
18. Arx, W.S. On the biophysics of conciousness and thought and characteristics of the human mind and intellect. Med Hypotheses. 2001; 302-313.
19. Bennett, M.R. The Idea of Consciousness. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers; 1997.
20. Brain, R. The Physiological basis of consciousness. Brain. 1958; 81, 426-455.
21. Plum, F., Posner, J.B. Diagnosis of stupor and coma (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co; 1980.
22. Weintraub, S., Mesulam, M.M. Mental state assessment of young and elderly adults in behavioral neurology. En M.M. Mesulam (Ed.), Principles of behavioral neurology. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co; 1985.
23. Jennett, B., Plum, F. Persistent vegetative state after brain damage: A syndrome in search of a name. Lancet. 1972; 734-737.
24. Berrol, S. Persistent vegetative state. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: State of the Art Review. 1990; 4, 559-567.
25. American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Recommendations for use of uniform nomenclature pertinent to patients wit hsevere alterations in consciousness. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.1995; 76, 205-209.
26. Multi-Society Task Force on PVS. Medical aspects of the persistent vegetative state (Part 1). New England Journal of Medicine. 1994; 330, 1499-1508. -Medical aspects of the persistent vegetative state (Part 2). New England Journal of Medicine. 1994; 330, 1572-1579.
27. Adams, R.D., Victor, M., Roper, A. Principios de Neurología, 6ª ed. Mexico D.F.: McGraw-Hill-Interamericana; 1999.
28. Parvizi, J., Damasio, A. Consciousness and the brainstem. Journal of Cognition. 2001; 79:1-2,135-160.
29. Saper C.B., Plum F. Disorders of Consciousness. En Freederiks J.A.M. (Ed) Handbook of Clinical Neurology: Clinical Neuropsychology. 1985; 45, 107-128.
30. Ellis, D.W., Royer, C.D., Golberg, K.B. Definitions, assessment and treatment of the comatose patients: a neuropsychological perspective. En León-Carrión, J. (Ed). Neuropsychological Rehabilitations. Fundamentals, innovations and directions. (153-171). Florida: GR/St. Lucie Press; 1997.
31. Giacino, J.T. Disorders of consciousness: differential diagnosis and neuropathologic features. Seminars in Neurology. 1997; 17:2,105-111.
32. Strange, P.G. Brain biochemistry and brain disorders. Nueva York, Oxford University Press; 1992.
33. Milner, A.D. Disorders of Perceptual Awareness. En Milner, A.D. y Rugg, M.D. (eds). The Neuropsychology of the Consciousness. (139-158) London: Academic Press; 1992.
34. Baars, B.J. Global workspace theory of consciousness: toward a cognitive neuroscience of human experience. Prog Brain Res. 2003; 150, 45-53.
35. Baars, B.J. Some essential differences between consciousness and attention, perception and working memory. Consciousness and Cognition. 1997; 6, 363-371.
36. Calvin, W.H. Competing for consciousness: a darwinian mechanism at an appropiate level of explanation. J of Consciousness Studies. 1998; 5, 389-404.
37. Posner, M.I., Petersen, S.E. The attention system of the human brain. Ann Rev Neuroscience. 1990; 13, 25-242.
38. Posner, M.I., Rothbart, M.K. Attentional mechanisms and conscious experience. En Milner A.D. y Rugg, M.D., (Eds). The Neuropsychology of Consciousness. (91-111). London: Academic Press; 1992.
39. Zeman, A. Consciousness. Brain. 2001; 124:7, 1263-1289.
40. Zeman, A.Z.J., Grayling, A., Cowey, A. Contemporary theory of consciousness. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1997; 62, 549-552.
41. Searle, J.R. Consciousness. Annual Rev Neuroscience. 2000; 23, 557-578.