As a first step I have proposed a theoretical entity, the
protophenomenon, as an elementary unit of consciousness associated
with microscopic activity sites in the brain, tentatively identified
with the synapses. Like other theoretical entities in science,
protophenomena are validated by their explanatory value and their
fruitfulness for further progress. According to this theory the
phenomenal world is structured by dynamical dependencies among the
protophenomena, which parallel the neurodynamical dependencies
among the corresponding activity sites; indeed they are described by
the same mathematical laws.