Victor Lamme's recurrent processing theory (RPT) remains on the short list of theories considered plausible by the consciousness science community. It's something of a dark horse candidate, without the support of global workspace theory (GWT) or integrated information theory (IIT), but it gets more support among consciousness researchers than among general enthusiasts. The Michael Cohen … Continue reading Recurrent processing theory and the function of consciousness
Tag: Neuroscience
Stephen Macknik’s work on prosthetic vision
This is pretty wild. In her latest Brain Science podcast, Ginger Campbell interviews Stephen Macknik on his work to develop a visual replacement implant for blind people. For a quick overview, check out this short video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiA1W1OnU9c One question Campbell asks, that I was wondering myself: how does the light reach the neurons in the … Continue reading Stephen Macknik’s work on prosthetic vision
Is there a conscious perception finish line?
Global workspace theory (GWT) is the proposition that consciousness is composed of contents broadcast throughout the brain. Various specialty processes compete for the limited capacity of the broadcasting mechanisms, to have their content broadcast to the all the other specialty processes. Global neuronal workspace (GNW) is a variant of that theory, popularly promoted by Stanislas … Continue reading Is there a conscious perception finish line?
The battle between integration and workspace will take a while
Well, I find this a bit disappointing. I was hoping that the contest between global workspace theory (GWT) and integrated information theory (IIT) would be announced sometime this year. Apparently, I'm going to have to wait awhile: Pitts describes the intention of this competition as “to kill one or both theories,” but adds that while … Continue reading The battle between integration and workspace will take a while
The issues with higher order theories of consciousness
After the global workspace theory (GWT) post, someone asked me if I'm now down on higher order theories (HOT). It's fair to say I'm less enthusiastic about them than I used to be. They still might describe important components of consciousness, but the stronger assertion that they provide the primary explanation now seems dubious. A … Continue reading The issues with higher order theories of consciousness
Global workspace theory: consciousness as brain wide information sharing
Lately I've been reading up on global workspace theory (GWT). In a survey published last year, among general consciousness enthusiasts, integrated information theory (IIT) was the most popular theory, followed closely by GWT. However, among active consciousness researchers, GWT was seen as the most promising by far (although no theory garnered a majority). Since seeing … Continue reading Global workspace theory: consciousness as brain wide information sharing
The magic step and the crucial fork
Those of you who've known me for a while may remember the long fascination I've had with Michael Graziano's attention schema theory of consciousness. I covered it early in this blog's history and have returned to it multiple times over the years. I still think the theory has a lot going for it, particularly as … Continue reading The magic step and the crucial fork
The information generation theory of consciousness
James of Seattle called my attention to an interesting paper in the Neuroscience of Consciousness journal: Information generation as a functional basis of consciousness: Drawing upon empirical research into consciousness, we propose a hypothesis that a function of consciousness is to internally generate counterfactual representations detached from the current sensory events. Interactions with generated representations … Continue reading The information generation theory of consciousness
Conscious visual perception happens in the frontal lobes
(warning: neuroscience weeds) Okay, switching back to the other major debate in neuroscience: whether conscious perception happens in the back or front of the brain. A new study presents evidence that seems to bolster the frontal view: Neural Correlates of the Conscious Perception of Visual Location Lie Outside Visual Cortex (warning: paywall): When perception differs … Continue reading Conscious visual perception happens in the frontal lobes
The layers of emotional feelings
One of the ongoing debates in neuroscience is on the nature of emotions, where they originate, where they are felt, and how innate versus learned they are. One view, championed by the late Jaak Panksepp and his followers, see emotions as innate, primal, and subcortical. They allow that the more complex social emotions, such as … Continue reading The layers of emotional feelings
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