There's a fully fleshed out theory of how specific synchronizing oscillations, resulting in "resonance" generate conscious experiences, including the kind of memories discussed here.

Before you dismiss this as another kooky consciousness theory, please let me add that this the only mechanistically precise one out there. All others are black-box models (yes, a bold claim!)

Sadly, it is completely ignored within neuroscience even if its "founder", Stephen Grossberg, is generally recognized as one of the pioneers of computational neuroscience and responsible for many now-commonplace ideas.

(plug) We've even written a book that, among other things, offers a gentle introduction to this work https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58085266-journey-of-the-...

And for anyone in AI/neuroscience I’d really, really recommend reading Grossberg’s Magnum Opus with an open mind: https://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Mind-Resonant-Brain-Makes/d...

This article may be a good place to start, even if the terminology takes a little getting used to: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089360801...

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Coming back to the question of consciousness, I’d wager that we are going to have to ask the question of artificial consciousness very seriously as AI models continue to get better at a rapid pace (no, they are not conscious yet). You might find this worth reading: https://saigaddam.medium.com/understanding-consciousness-is-...

Author here. I reference them in the article, but if you are looking for the original sources, here they are:

Conscious Mind, Resonant Brain by Stephen Grossberg https://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Mind-Resonant-Brain-Makes/d...

And our own book Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Mind-Thinking-Emerged-Chaos/d...

And it has a ton of references. We didn't just make this stuff up you know! :)