Abstract
How is conscious experience related to material brain processes? A variety of theories aiming to answer this age-old question have emerged from the recent surge in consciousness research, and some are now hotly debated. Although most researchers have so far focused on the development and validation of their preferred theory in relative isolation, this article, written by a group of scientists representing different theories, takes an alternative approach. Noting that various theories often try to explain different aspects or mechanistic levels of consciousness, we argue that the theories do not necessarily contradict each other. Instead, several of them may converge on fundamental neuronal mechanisms and be partly compatible and complementary, so that multiple theories can simultaneously contribute to our understanding. Here, we consider unifying, integration-oriented approaches that have so far been largely neglected, seeking to combine valuable elements from various theories.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1531-1552 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Neuron |
| Volume | 112 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| Early online date | 5 Mar 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 May 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 The Authors
Funding
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the specific grant agreement no. 945539 (Human Brain Project SGA3 to J.F.S. C.M.A.P. C.K. M.M. M.L. P.A. P.R.R. R.G. and W.V.). We would like to thank the following people for their helpful comments and suggestions: for C.P. Matthias Brucklacher, Umberto Olcese, Matthijs Oude Lohuis, Mototaka Suzuki, Conrado Bosman, Mathis Bassler, and Francesco Lässig; for C.K. and P.R. Xinyu Liu; for J.F.S. Bjørn E. Juel, Hedda Hassel Mørch, Andre S. Nilsen, and Christoph Hönigsperger. In Oct.–Nov. 2023, we sent draft versions of subsections 2.1 to Giulio Tononi, 2.2 to Stanislas Dehaene, and 2.3 to Victor Lamme for comments; we thank them for their helpful suggestions. J.A. was supported by the Estonian Research Council grant PSG728. M.M. was supported by the European Research Council (ERC-2022-SYG – 101071900 – NEMESIS) and by the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca (PRIN 2022). C.M.A.P. P.R.R. and P.C.K. were supported by the Dutch Research Council (I; Crossover Program 17619 “INTENSE”) and DBI2, a Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Science. P.R.R. and P.C.K. were further supported by the European Union FP7 (ERC grant 101052963 “NUMEROUS”) and Innovation programme grant number 899287, “NeuraViper.” C.M.A.P. was supported by a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF#0646). The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Andrea Pigorini is supported by Progetto Di Ricerca Di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) P2022FMK77. J.F.S. received additional support from the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo (UiO:life Science Convergence Environments). M.L. was supported by the European Research Council (101055340, Cortical Coupling). J.F.S. P.C.K. R.G. P.R. M.M. M.L. and C.M.A.P. contributed to the conceptualization of this paper. J.F.S. P.C.K. M.M. M.L. and C.M.A.P. contributed to visualization. All authors contributed to writing, with major roles by J.F.S. P.C.K. J.A. R.G. M.M. M.L. and C.M.A.P. in the original writing, reviewing, and editing, and additional roles by A.P. P.A. W.S. W.D. and P.R. in advice, reviewing, and editing. M.M. is co-founder and shareholder of Intrinsic Powers. P.R. is a co-founder and shareholder of neurotechnology start-up Phosphoenix BV (the Netherlands) (https://phosphoenix.nl). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the specific grant agreement no. 945539 ( Human Brain Project SGA3 to J.F.S., C.M.A.P., C.K., M.M., M.L., P.A., P.R.R., R.G., and W.V.). We would like to thank the following people for their helpful comments and suggestions: for C.P., Matthias Brucklacher, Umberto Olcese, Matthijs Oude Lohuis, Mototaka Suzuki, Conrado Bosman, Mathis Bassler, and Francesco Lässig; for C.K. and P.R., Xinyu Liu; for J.F.S., Bjørn E. Juel, Hedda Hassel Mørch; Andre S. Nilsen, Christoph Hönigsperger. In Oct.–Nov. 2023, we sent draft versions of subsections 2.1 to Giulio Tononi, 2.2 to Stanislas Dehaene, and 2.3 to Victor Lamme for comments; we thank them for their helpful suggestions. J.A. was supported by the Estonian Research Council grant PSG728 . M.M. was supported by the European Research Council ( ERC-2022-SYG – 101071900 – NEMESIS) and by the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca ( PRIN 2022 ). C.M.A.P., P.R.R., and P.C.K. were supported by the Dutch Research Council ( I; Crossover Program 17619 “INTENSE”) and DBI2, a Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Science . P.R.R. and P.C.K. were further supported by the European Union FP7 ( ERC grant 101052963 “NUMEROUS”) and Innovation programme grant number 899287 , “NeuraViper.” C.M.A.P. was supported by a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation ( TWCF#0646 ). The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Templeton World Charity Foundation . Andrea Pigorini is supported by Progetto Di Ricerca Di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) P2022FMK77 . J.F.S. received additional support from the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo (UiO:life Science Convergence Environments).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Norges forskningsråd | |
| European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation | |
| Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, & Science | |
| DBI2 | |
| Seventh Framework Programme | |
| European Research Council | 899287, 101052963, ERC-2022-SYG – 101071900 |
| European Research Council | |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 17619 |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | |
| Eesti Teadusagentuur | PSG728 |
| Eesti Teadusagentuur | |
| Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca | PRIN 2022 |
| Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca | |
| Universitetet i Oslo | 101055340 |
| Universitetet i Oslo | |
| Templeton World Charity Foundation | P2022FMK77, 0646 |
| Templeton World Charity Foundation | |
| European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation | 945539 |