What is mind? Where is the mind situated?

‘Hey Ravi, in the end all those atheists who reproach go will meet the same fate as Vidhyadharan.”
“What happened to Vidhyadharan?”
“That fellow was a renowned atheist, as you know.”
“Now he is visiting all the temples one by one”
“The distress of an atheist!”
“God has changed his mind.”
“With that motorbike accident Vidhyadharan could gain the ultimate knowledge.”
“Some people need tribulations to fully know the essence of life.”
“All are trials of God”
“Anyway, how was Vidhyadharan’s mind changed?”

This is not an imaginary conversation. We all may know such persons whose mind has been changed like this? Where is it? How it get changed?
Actually, Vidhyadharan is an example for the fact that the damage caused to a particular point in the brain affects the whole activities of a person. He is currently suffering from the crisis following the damage caused to the frontal cortex due to the bike accident. It is the part called the Prefrontal cortex in the brain which comprehends both internal and external sensations and take decisions. If this system is damaged it will overturn the prudent behavior of that person. That person may think that there is error in perceptions which were considered as correct so far. This can happen if the person is affected by epilepsy, tumors and infection affecting the brain, stroke, bleeding or psychosis.

There are many things in the material world which can be seen by the eyes, heard by the ears, smelled by the nose, tasted by the tongue and touched by the fingers. However, thought, consciousness, sorrow and empathy can’t be perceived like that. It is such things in the perceived world of man that transforms into universe of ideas. The universe of ideas is represented by consciousness and the material universe is represented by matter. Consciousness is the activities that take place in the material form called the brain. Emotions, thoughts, ideas and sensations are all certain unique activities in the brain. All our internal and external response, emotions and thoughts, desires, ideas, God and beliefs are the creation of billions of neurons in the brain and the activities associated with them. We don’t even know what is happening in the brain cells each moment. Ours is the conscious experiences which are abound as a result of the combined functioning of the numerous neurons in the brain. Therefore, as the conditions of the brain changes, consciousness also changes. Without brain there is no consciousness and no emotions and thoughts.

The moisture of water is the characteristic commonly created in it as a result of the combination of energy emissions in the form of hydrogen and oxygen. If water is separated as oxygen and hydrogen the moisture quality disappears. Likewise, our internal world or mind is one which we experience when each brain system functions timely. Mind can be seen as a notion which generally denotes the internal world of humans like generalization and abstraction of experiences and knowledge are made. It is being felt because of a coordination that occurred as an evolutionary requirement. There is a realm in it which functions as a system in which each system of the brain transfers, collects and organises information. What if that system is damaged? For example if there is no Prefrontal Cortex in the brain, the consciousness of me and intellect will be lost. There is a brain system called Amygdala. If this part which makes the response required for survival is not there, natural responsiveness will be lost. If there is no Temporal Lobe, hearing, emotions and excitements will become impossible. If the part of the brain called Hippocampus is not there, memory power will become alien.
Actually, mind is just a concept. An idea such as Kerala, India or America. Mind is the creation of the internal forms related to human evolution. It functions in the model of a common computer. The scientific world is launching such a piece of computer hardware in the name Neurogrid. This chip has got the ability to stimulate a million neurons and six billion synaptic nodes. It has been designed by the Brain in Silicon Group at the Stanford University. They claim that such chips are capable of computing in the model of human brain circuits.

Prasad Amore