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https://www.health.harvard.
edu/blog/unconscious-or-subconscious-20100801255
We can override the reflex generated in the spinal cord. There is specific
neurons for that. It is not a special skill that we would get from meditation or
exercise. Everybody need to modulate the sensitivity of the reflex.
We can also increase the sensitivity of the reflex. When i was fixing vacuum
tube tv, i was getting more violents reflex each time i was getting an electric
shock.
What is subconscious is every brain area except the one that is currently under
active monitoring by the consciousness. If i pay attention to color or counting
the number of pass of the basket balk, i may miss the gorilla wandering and
even waiving at me.
The conscious system can only pay attention to a few brain area simultaneously.
All the other brain area keep processing information. If somebody call my name,
the auditive area automatically recognize this and try to steal a percentage of
the conscious system.
This sudden distraction steer the stream of thought toward audition.
If we are really concentrated on a task and don't accept to get distracted, the
auditive system still actively listen, trying to confirm if the voices are talking to
me. If so, it will send another request to get a percentage of time from the
conscious system.
Unconscious or Subconscious?
August 2, 2010
By Michael Craig Miller, M.D., Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health
Publishing
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clinician.
A dear friend got caught up in a debate about these terms during a holiday dinner some time ago.
I wasn’t too surprised this past week when another friend asked me which term was the right
one. It is hard to find two people who agree on “proper” definitions for these words.
The term “unconscious” or “unconscious mind” is most closely associated with Freud and
psychoanalysis, but the general notion predates Freud by hundreds if not thousands of years. For
Freud, however, the idea of memories, feelings, and other mental content outside conscious
awareness took on a new, practical significance. It was a key element of the theory he was
developing to explain the causes of mental disorders and how to treat them. Put in the simplest
terms, Freud theorized that hidden mental contents were making people “ill.” As he understood
it, these mental contents had been “repressed” and made unconscious. It was a broad and
powerful idea—and if debates over dinner are any evidence—one that continues to be
interesting.
As for the term “subconscious,” Freud used it interchangeably with “unconscious” at the outset.
The words are similarly close but not identical in German (subconscious is das
Unterbewusste; unconscious is das Unbewusste). But he eventually stuck with the latter term
to avoid confusion. He couldn’t have predicted that the confusion would still exist after more
than 100 years of discussion.
As a general rule, then, in most of the professional literature where mental functioning is
concerned (including not just psychoanalysis, but also psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience,
among others), writers—like Freud—tend to use the word “unconscious” rather than
“subconscious.” Although the word “subconscious” continues to appear in the lay literature, it is
rarely defined carefully and may or may not be synonymous with “unconscious.”
In professional writing, the meaning of “unconscious” varies somewhat depending on context.

Generations of psychoanalysts have debated the function of an unconscious, or how and why
certain mental contents get repressed. The way that an analyst understands the unconscious often
is instrumental for how he or she tries to fulfill one of the central aims of the “talking cure,”
which is to help a patient achieve relief by making the unconscious conscious.
Some neuroscientists find the concept of an unconscious to be a problem, because the

terminology implies that the unconscious is a place, a true anatomical location, as it were, in the
brain. Freud, as a neurologist, did think in terms of neurobiology. But he didn’t have twenty-first
century tools to help him analyze the structure, function and complex interactions among nerve
cells, neural circuits, or brain regions.
Today, most psychoanalysts and psychodynamically-oriented therapists do not think of the

unconscious as a neuroanatomical structure. Rather, they use the term as shorthand to refer to a
complex, but familiar, psychological phenomenon. That is, a good deal and perhaps most of
mental life happens without our knowing much about it. Neuroscientists are clued into these
processes too. So they appreciate that any understanding of the neurobiology of mental life must
go beyond conscious thoughts and feelings.
These mental processes are so interesting to us, perhaps, because we know that much is at stake.
So much that moves us happens outside our awareness and outside our control—we believe (and
maybe it’s true) that greater awareness will lead to greater self-control or greater well-being. And
maybe that’s why, when the French novelist Marcel Proust wrote about a character biting a
cookie and being flooded with memories, we too are moved. It is a reminder that there is so
much to know that we don’t know, and it seems like such a lucky accident when we discover
what was hiding within us all the time.
From the perspective of neuroscience, what is the subconscious mind?
Yohan John
Neuroscientist | Research Assistant Professor at BUUpvoted by
Jenny ZW Li
, PhD in neuroscience, genetics, and related research, writer8y

The word "subconscious" comes from 19th century psychology, and was made
popular by Sigmund Freud. But he himself later disavowed the word, pointing
out how vague it is:
"If someone talks of subconsciousness, I cannot tell whether he means the term
topographically – to indicate something lying in the mind beneath consciousness
– or qualitatively – to indicate another consciousness, a subterranean one, as it
were. He is probably not clear about any of it. The only trustworthy antithesis is
between conscious and unconscious."
Even if we decide that "subconscious" and "unconscious" are synonyms, we are
not going to find it much easier to identify the "conscious" and "non-conscious"
brain circuits or patterns. There is a lot of speculation about this, but I think that
for the most part we can't define these terms from a purely neural perspective
(yet).
Contrary to popular perception, the neocortex is not entirely devoted to

conscious processing. "Neocortex" is a broad term that encompasses cortical
areas that differ quite a bit in their structure and function. Some (perhaps most)
cortical processes are likely to be non-conscious. To pick just one example, we
typically have no conscious experience that correlates with the complex cortical
processing involved in the generation of saccades (the jerky eye movements
that themselves typically pass under most people's conscious radars).
Similarly, not all subcortical processes are necessarily non-conscious. The basal
ganglia and the cerebellum are often thought of as "mere" motor areas, but in
fact they seem to be involved in various cognitive processes including language
— arguably the most "conscious" phenomenon of all [1]. Damage to these areas
can produce deficits that can be consciously experienced. And the amygdala,
another subcortical area, is a crucial node in the brain's emotional system.
Emotions are very often experienced consciously (often uncomfortably so!).
"Some neuroscientists find the concept of an unconscious to be a problem,

because the terminology implies that the unconscious is a place, a true
anatomical location, as it were, in the brain." [2]
Given that the subregions of the brain are interconnected in various ways, it's
probably more productive to think of "conscious" and "unconscious"
are modes of the brain's activity, rather than locations in the brain. A given
brain region may participate in both conscious and unconscious processes.
Neuroscientists are still trying to figure out what the correlates of conscious
awareness are, but we are increasingly thinking in terms of networks and
dynamic patterns, rather than in terms of static locations in the brain.

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https://www.health.harvard.

This sudden distraction steer the stream of thought toward audition.

ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing

In professional writing, the meaning of “unconscious” varies somewhat depending on context.

Some neuroscientists find the concept of an unconscious to be a problem, because the

Today, most psychoanalysts and psychodynamically-oriented therapists do not think of the

From the perspective of neuroscience, what is the subconscious mind?

Neuroscientist | Research Assistant Professor at BUUpvoted by

, PhD in neuroscience, genetics, and related research, writer8y

Contrary to popular perception, the neocortex is not entirely devoted to

"Some neuroscientists find the concept of an unconscious to be a problem,

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