?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=HOW+COULD+CONSCIOUS+EXPERIENCES+AFFECT+BRAINS%3F&rft.creator=Velmans%2C+Professor+Max&rft.subject=Neuropsychology&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.description=In+everyday+life+we+take+it+for+granted+that+we+have+conscious+control+of+some+of+our+actions+and+that+the+part+of+us+that+exercises+control+is+the+conscious+mind.++Psychosomatic+medicine+also+assumes+that+the+conscious+mind+can+affect+body+states%2C+and+this+is+supported+by+evidence+that+the+use+of+imagery%2C+hypnosis%2C+biofeedback+and+other+%E2%80%98mental+interventions%E2%80%99+can+be+therapeutic+in+a+variety+of+medical+conditions.++However%2C+there+is+no+accepted+theory+of+mind%2Fbody+interaction+and+this+has+had+a+detrimental+effect+on+the+acceptance+of+mental+causation+in+science%2C+philosophy+and+in+many+areas+of+clinical+practice.+Biomedical+accounts+typically+translate+the+effects+of+mind+into+the+effects+of+brain+functioning%2C+for+example%2C+explaining+mind%2Fbody+interactions+in+terms+of+the+interconnections+and+reciprocal+control+of+cortical%2C+neuroendocrine%2C+autonomic+and+immune+systems.++While+such+accounts+are+instructive%2C+they+are+implicitly+reductionist%2C+and+beg+the+question+of+how+conscious+experiences+could+have+bodily+effects.++On+the+other+hand%2C+non-reductionist+accounts+have+to+cope+with+three+problems%3A+1)+The+physical+world+appears+causally+closed%2C+which+would+seem+to+leave+no+room+for+conscious+intervention.+2)+One+is+not+conscious+of+one%E2%80%99s+own+brain%2Fbody+processing%2C+so+how+could+there+be+conscious+control+of+such+processing%3F+3)+Conscious+experiences+appear+to+come+too+late+to+causally+affect+the+processes+to+which+they+most+obviously+relate.++This+paper+suggests+a+way+of+understanding+mental+causation+that+resolves+these+problems.+It+also+suggests+that+%E2%80%9Cconscious+mental+control%E2%80%9D+needs+to+be+partly+understood+in+terms+of+the+voluntary+operations+of+the+preconscious+mind%2C+and+that+this+allows+an+account+of+biological+determinism+that+is+compatible+with+experienced+free+will.+%0A%0A&rft.date=2002-11&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2750%2F1%2FJCSVelmans2001.final.htm&rft.identifier=++Velmans%2C+Professor+Max++(2002)+HOW+COULD+CONSCIOUS+EXPERIENCES+AFFECT+BRAINS%3F++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2750%2F<script src='//archive-bar.soton.ac.uk/archive-bar.js'></script>