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The quest to understand consciousness

2,459,753 views |

Antonio Damasio |

TED2011

• March 2011

Every morning we wake up and regain consciousness -- that is a marvelous fact -- but what exactly is it that we regain? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio uses this simple question to give us a glimpse into how our brains create our sense of self.

Every morning we wake up and regain consciousness -- that is a marvelous fact -- but what exactly is it that we regain? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio uses this simple question to give us a glimpse into how our brains create our sense of self.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Antonio Damasio

Antonio Damasio

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Antonio Damasio's research in neuroscience has shown that emotions play a central role in social cognition and decision-making. His work has had a major influence on current understanding of the neural systems, which underlie memory, language, consciousness.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.