The author suggests that bus automata (BAs) may serve as better brain models than sequential computers of cellular automata. He proposes to view self-simulationability, together with the use of status flags and the like, as a primitive model of self-consciousness, analogous to viewing a regulator as exhibiting rudimentary purposive behavior. A discussion of what meanings might be ascribed in a BA context to terms like intelligence, pattern, theory, and meaning itself is also given. It is concluded that the BA-UTM (universal Turing machine) is a promising candidate for a brain model whose operation may actually be relevant to mental processes. Prospects for actual BA-UTM realization are briefly discussed.>