Abstract
Activation of the brainʼs putative retinoid system has been proposed as the
neuronal substrate for our basic sense of being centered within a volumetric
surround –- our minimal phenomenal consciousness (Trehub 2007). Here, the
assumed properties of the self-locus within the retinoid model are shown to
explain recent experimental findings relating to the out-of-body-experience. In
addition, selective excursion of the heuristic self-locus is able to explain many
important functions of consciousness, including the effective internal
representation of a 3D space on the basis of 2D perspective depictions. Our
sense of self-agency is shown to be a natural product of the role of the heuristic
self-locus in the retinoid mechanism