Consciousness does not exist in relation to neurons or other physical entities. It is experienced by selfs, which happen to be fictional representations generated by brains. Consciousness is a self-experience of fictional characters.
Washing machines are models created by minds, but over patterns outside. Consciousness is a model of the contents of our attention, but these contents never literally existed. It’s a model of virtual processes: if these experiences would have taken place, what would they be like?