PSYCHE: http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/ A Review of Christof Koch’s The Quest for Consciousness

The quest for the Holy Grail was considered the greatest adventure in the Arthurian legend. The quest for consciousness (the holy grail of contemporary neuroscience) is, similarly, one of the greatest scientific adventures of all times. Koch's book summarizes a 14-year old effort –and a personal quest-to understand, and narrow down, the neuronal correlates of consciousness (the NCC). The Quest for Consciousness is a thorough review of the extant scientific literature on consciousness, especially visual awareness. Koch integrates evidence from electrophysiological data, imaging and psychophysical studies, computational models, and clinical observations in a comprehensive account. The book will appeal to neuroscientists, cognitive scientists and philosophers concerned with the scientific study of consciousness, and to interested students of these disciplines. It will also fascinate those readers who have previously enjoyed the late Francis Crick's (Koch's long-term collaborator, who sadly passed away on July 28) The Astonishing Hypothesis (Crick 1994). Published ten years ago, The Astonishing Hypothesis introduced the embryonic neurobiology of consciousness to lay readers (and to many neuroscientists as well). Today, thanks in large extent to Crick and Koch's major contributions to the field, as well as to their successful cheerleading efforts, most neuroscientists and cognitive scientists are receptive and familiar with the idea of a neurobiology of consciousness, previously despised by " serious " neuroscientists. The Quest for Consciousness not only builds on the foundations laid by the Astonishing Hypothesis, but paves the paths to be explored in the