Scientists may have discovered the key to consciousness

Scientists in Washington DC have potentially found the on-off switch for human consciousness by stimulating certain parts of the brain.

Dr Mohamed Koubeissi and his team studied an epileptic patient and discovered that electrical impulses of a particular brain region, the claustrum, sent her into a state of non-consciousness on repeated occasions, according to a report by New Scientist.

Ending the stimulation of the brain resulted in her waking from her zombie state, with no memory of what had just happened. The development may aid returning people in comas to reality.

The discovery suggests that the claustrum, a sheet of neurons located under the neocortex in the centre of the brain, might be integral to combining disparate brain activity into a seamless collection of thoughts, emotions and sensations.

"I would liken it to a car," said Koubeissi. "A car on the road has many parts that facilitate its movement – the gas, the transmission, the engine – but there's only one spot where you turn the key and it all switches on and works together. So while consciousness is a complicated process created via many structures and networks – we may have found the key."