Damasio consciousness model

Consciousness emerges from the dynamic interaction of the brain, body (somatic markers), and environment, with feelings and homeostasis forming the core self.

Antonio Damasio’s model, detailed in his 1999 work *The Feeling of What Happens*, establishes consciousness as a biologically determined, multi-layered process, not a unitary experience. It operates on a three-tiered hierarchy: the Protoself, which is the unconscious neural map of the body’s homeostatic state; Core Consciousness, which is the transient, simple sense of self in the present; and Extended Consciousness, which is the elaborate, autobiographical self aware of past and future. The mechanism is clear: consciousness arises when the brain integrates the Protoself's internal body map with external sensory inputs, creating a representation of the organism-object interaction. Crucially, emotions are the unconscious bodily responses, and feelings are the subjective awareness of those changes, providing the essential 'light of consciousness' that guides survival and decision-making (the somatic marker hypothesis).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damasio's_theory_of_consciousness