The patient is not just awake, but is alert and talking through this because this is shocking to me. The brain doesn't have any pain sensors. And so you don't need to anesthetize the brain during brain surgery. It feels nothing. While these electrodes are in they're kind of probing around various different areas of the brain as she's awake. They're trying to figure out what makes her see red or hear Bach? What does this do? Does this make you stop being able to speak? These are the basic moments of human experience.
How does the mind work? What makes us sad? What makes us laugh? Despite advances in neuroscience, the answers to these questions remain elusive. Neuroscientist Patrick House talks about these mysteries and about his book Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. House's insights illuminate not just what we know and don't know about our minds--he also helps us understand what it means to be human.