So is it your assertion that universal physical laws would not exist if there was no'one around to perceive them?

On the contrary. My point (which you now seem to accept) is that universal physical laws WERE in place before anyone was around to observe them, and would therefore exist even if they could not be perceived by anyone. The law of gravity (to name but one) certainly existed before any human being was around to record it or even feel it. There are many laws which are in force as we speak but which have not been identified, and maybe never will.

Naturally a "sentence" being formulated by a conscious agent will register its presence somehow or other on the brain. But the sentence does not reside in the brain. No amount of neurosurgery could extract sentences or memories or thoughts from the subject. We may be able to detect the signals, but not find the thoughts themselves.