How did human consciousness evolve? Neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin traces our sophisticated brains back to the first complex cells – Live Science
- Health Mind Neuroscience
The evolution of life on Earth ‘almost predictably’ led to human intelligence, neuroscientist says
Interview, By Nicoletta Lanese, published 2 days ago
Neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin spoke to Live Science about how human consciousness evolved.
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In “One Hand Clapping,” Nikolay Kukushkin traces the origin of human consciousness from the formation of the first genetic material on Earth. (Image credit: Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty Images)
“Consciousness,” although challenging to define, can be thought of as a first-person awareness of one’s surroundings and oneself. You sense the world through your eyes, nose, ears and hands, and track your internal bodily states via interactions between your cells. These data streams collide to give rise to your personal perception of the world, your place within it, and your motivations for moving through it.
An enduring question about consciousness is how this state of awareness comes about. Is consciousness simply the result of a bunch of chemical reactions? Or is there some extra “secret ingredient”?
In the book “One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind” (Prometheus/Swift Press, 2025), New York University neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin explores these questions. To do so, he traces the evolutionary history of human consciousness from the formation of Earth’s first DNA molecules to present-day Homo sapiens. Kukushkin studies memory in non-brain biological systems, such as human kidney cells, as well as in simple organisms such as sea slugs. He also considers himself a “molecular philosopher.”
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