But they are imprecise and their conditions for empirical testing are unclear. Just a few examples. This appears to be an extraordinarily interesting part of the brain, whose lesioning may abolish intrinsically motivated goal-directed action. I understand from Doug that there is some evidence to that effect. Human beings can be paralyzed and still be conscious of sensory stimuli.
Human beings can be anhedonic and still be conscious.
It seems that some people can have minimal emotional expressiveness and still be conscious. The claim that some region of the brain is necessary for waking consciousness needs to be examined thoroughly. That means there is still an alternative explanation to the hypothesis that the ILNs are necessary for waking consciousness. I'd love to see more evidence about the PAG, but as of today, as I understand it, its role in waking consciousness is not yet established. Or consider another claim, that emotion involves a global state variable.