title: Animal consciousness.
abstract: The cognitive states that underlie animal behavior may include conscious, subjective, mental experiences. Familiar arguments to the contrary are inconclusive. Interactive communication between social animals may well include the exchange of information about subjective feelings and thoughts. Objective data about the subjective experiences of certain animals may thus be potentially accessible through analysis of their communicative signals.
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition; D003243:Consciousness; D011582:Psychological Theory; D013850:Thinking; D014828:Vocalization, Animal