There are currently four leading theories in the study of consciousness – and they provide contradicting predictions about the neural underpinnings of conscious experience. The Global Neuronal Workspace Theory maintains that there is a central neural network and when information enters this, it is being broadcasted throughout the brain, becoming conscious. The Higher-Order Thought Theory claims that there is a higher-order neural state that ‘points’ at activity in lower-level areas, marking this content as conscious. A third theory, called Recurrent Processing Theory, claims that information that is reprocessed within the sensory areas themselves, in the form of recurrent processing, becomes conscious. And a fourth theory – Integrated Information Theory – defines consciousness as integrated information in the brain, claiming that the posterior regions are the physical substrates of consciousness…(READ MORE)

Category: News