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What struck me most about our discussion of experience, storytelling and neo-cortex is that conscious experience is a phenomenon that does not extend to all organisms. While this is obvious for, say, a tree, more seemingly ‘conscious’ animals (ex. Frogs) lacking neo-cortex can in fact act in ways similar to organisms that possess neo-cortex and have experiences (or “stories”, as told by the neo-cortex). Given that some instinctual behaviors are present irrespective of the I-function[1], this leads me to question what the evolutionary advantages of possessing an I-function, or neocortex are, and how consciousness came to exist. From what I’m finding on the web, the development of the neo-cortex in general is thought to be associated with the evolution of cortical development:                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Predatory behavior in particular is associated with larger brains. Catching prey requires highly tuned sensory and motor systems. The neocortex is made up of both primary sensory areas that receive input from the thalamus, and primary motor areas. In mammals with more neocortex, the primary areas are connected to many other areas that further process sensory input and produce motor plans. Much like the duplication of genes, it has been suggested that cortical areas have been duplicated as well. Like the duplicated gene mechanism, such a change would have the advantage that one area could evolve rapidly while the other provides the original function, or they could coevolve, each providing important and possibly refined aspects of the original function. Such duplicated areas most likely arise due to mutations in genes that control processes during development. http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/brain-evolution3                                                                                                                                                                                            So it seems as though the ifunction developed hand-in-hand with the other components of the nervous system as a means of rapid evolution, adaptation of behavior, and increased cognitive, social and planning abilities As for what makes primate neocortex unique,  “Early primate lifestyle resulted in a number of adaptations that were critical to the eventual evolution of humans. Like most mammalian predators, early primates had forward facing eyes which allowed for focused pursuit with good depth perception in a large part of the visual field. The arboreal life required grasping hands, and prey were probably captured by visually-guided hand and mouth movements. Consequently, the visual system of primates dominates the sensory cortices, and its structure, even within the brainstem, is unique to primates. Another important difference between the neocortex of the primate and that of other mammals is a large prefrontal cortex which is the rostral or front part of the cortex not devoted to motor function. These areas seem to be instrumental in higher cognitive functions such as planning and social behavior.”  http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/brain-evolution3                                                                                                                                                                [1] For example, a specific inborn reaction of many species when confronted with the presence of a predator (or danger in general) is to stop moving, or be “frozen in place with fear”. Two examples of this behavior by conscious species is deer freezing in car headlights and the videotaped reactions of terror victims frozen in fear in the immediate aftermath of explosions.   It is thought that this behavior is a defense mechanism that developed, through evolutionary adaptation, when confronted by a predator (predator species are generally adept at detecting movement by prey). Those individual organisms possessing the behavior were more likely to escape predation.