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The interest in consciousness within science has gone over the years through many ups and downs. The subject was virtually taboo right from 1920 till the late seventies. But since then the situation has gradually changed, and the last couple of years have seen a tremendous increase in the number of books and articles published on consciousness, not only in the popular press but also by reputed academic publishers and peer-reviewed journals. This renewed interest in consciousness seems to have arisen mainly from the confluence of recent developments in neurophysiology, artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology. Neurophysiology is getting closer and closer to finding the exact neurological correlates in the brain of the mental processes that take place in the mind. Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence show that many mental processes that till recently were considered the prerogative of the conscious human mind, can now be imitated by computers that operate without any apparent consciousness.