Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. The theory : The magic trick -- Introducing the theory -- Awareness as information -- Being aware versus knowing that you are aware -- The attention schema -- Illusions and myths -- Social attention -- How do I distinguish my awareness from yours? -- Some useful complexities -- Part II. Comparison to previous theories and results : Social theories of consciousness -- Consciousness as integrated information -- Neural correlates of consciousness -- Awareness and the machinery for social perception -- The neglect syndrome -- Multiple interlocking functions of the brain area TPJ -- Simulating other minds -- Some spiritual matters -- Explaining the magic trick.

"What is consciousness and how can a brain, a mere collection of neurons, create it? In Consciousness and the Social Brain, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano lays out an audacious new theory to account for the deepest mystery of them all. The human brain has evolved a complex circuitry that allows it to be socially intelligent. This social machinery has only just begun to be studied in detail. One function of this circuitry is to attribute awareness to others: to compute that person Y is aware of thing X. In Graziano's theory, the machinery that attributes awareness to others also attributes it to oneself. Damage that machinery and you disrupt your own awareness. Graziano discusses the science, the evidence, the philosophy, and the surprising implications of this new theory."--Dust jacket flap.

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