Adversarial testing of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theories of consciousness
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Ferrante, Oscar; Gorska-Klimowska, Urszula; Henin, Simon; Hirschhorn, Rony; Khalaf, Aya; Lepauvre, Alex; Liu, Ling; Richter, David; Vidal, Yamil; Bonacchi, Niccolo; Brown, Tanya; Sripad, Praveen; Armendariz, Marcelo; Bendtz, Katarina; Ghafari, Tara; Hetenyi, Dorottya; Jeschke, Jay; Kozma, Csaba; Mazumder, David R.; Montenegro, Stephanie; Seedat, Alia; Sharafeldin, Abdelrahman; Yang, Shujun; Baillet, Sylvain; Chalmers, David J.; Cichy, Radoslaw M.; Fallon, Francis; Panagiotaropoulos, Theofanis I.; Blumenfeld, Hal; de Lange, Floris P.; Devore, Sasha; Jensen, Ole; Kreiman, Gabriel; Luo, Huan; Boly, Melanie; Dehaene, Stanislas; Koch, Christof; Tononi, Giulio; Pitts, Michael; Mudrik, Liad; Melloni, Lucia
署名单位：
University of Birmingham; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; New York University; Tel Aviv University; Yale University; Radboud University Nijmegen; Peking University; Beijing Language & Culture University; Beijing Language & Culture University; University of Granada; Instituto Superior Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA); Harvard University; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School; University of Oxford; University of London; University College London; Newcastle University - UK; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Amsterdam; McGill University; New York University; Free University of Berlin; Humboldt University of Berlin; St. John's University; National & Kapodistrian University of Athens; Academy of Athens; University of Oxford; Peking University; Peking University; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (Inserm); Universite Paris Saclay; CEA; Universite PSL; College de France; Allen Institute for Brain Science; Reed College - Portland; Tel Aviv University; Ruhr University Bochum
刊物名称：
Nature
ISSN/ISSBN：
0028-1608
DOI：
10.1038/s41586-025-08888-1
发表日期：
2025-06-05
关键词：
pattern-analysis
meg
eeg
oscillations
FRAMEWORK
inference
software
spiking
cortex
shifts
摘要：
Different theories explain how subjective experience arises from brain activity(1,2). These theories have independently accrued evidence, but have not been directly compared(3). Here we present an open science adversarial collaboration directly juxtaposing integrated information theory (IIT)(4,5) and global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT)(6,7,8,9,10) via a theory-neutral consortium(11,12,13). The theory proponents and the consortium developed and preregistered the experimental design, divergent predictions, expected outcomes and interpretation thereof(12). Human participants (n = 256) viewed suprathreshold stimuli for variable durations while neural activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetoencephalography and intracranial electroencephalography. We found information about conscious content in visual, ventrotemporal and inferior frontal cortex, with sustained responses in occipital and lateral temporal cortex reflecting stimulus duration, and content-specific synchronization between frontal and early visual areas. These results align with some predictions of IIT and GNWT, while substantially challenging key tenets of both theories. For IIT, a lack of sustained synchronization within the posterior cortex contradicts the claim that network connectivity specifies consciousness. GNWT is challenged by the general lack of ignition at stimulus offset and limited representation of certain conscious dimensions in the prefrontal cortex. These challenges extend to other theories of consciousness that share some of the predictions tested here(14,15,16,17). Beyond challenging the theories, we present an alternative approach to advance cognitive neuroscience through principled, theory-driven, collaborative research and highlight the need for a quantitative framework for systematic theory testing and building.