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Lookup NU author(s): Csaba Kozma
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025. The Author(s). Different theories explain how subjective experience arises from brain activity1,2. These theories have independently accrued evidence, but have not been directly compared3. Here we present an open science adversarial collaboration directly juxtaposing integrated information theory (IIT)4,5 and global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT)6-10 via a theory-neutral consortium11-13. The theory proponents and the consortium developed and preregistered the experimental design, divergent predictions, expected outcomes and interpretation thereof12. 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 here14-17. 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.
Author(s): Ferrante O, Gorska-Klimowska U, Henin S, Hirschhorn R, Khalaf A, Lepauvre A, Liu L, Richter D, Vidal Y, Bonacchi N, Brown T, Sripad P, Armendariz M, Bendtz K, Ghafari T, Hetenyi D, Jeschke J, Kozma C, Mazumder DR, Montenegro S, Seedat A, Sharafeldin A, Yang S, Baillet S, Chalmers DJ, Cichy RM, Fallon F, Panagiotaropoulos TI, Blumenfeld H, de Lange FP, Devore S, Jensen O, Kreiman G, Luo H, Boly M, Dehaene S, Koch C, Tononi G, Pitts M, Mudrik L, Melloni L
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Nature
Year: 2025
Volume: 642
Issue: 8066
Pages: 133-142
Print publication date: 05/06/2025
Online publication date: 30/04/2025
Acceptance date: 11/03/2025
Date deposited: 30/06/2025
ISSN (print): 0028-0836
ISSN (electronic): 1476-4687
Publisher: Springer Nature
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08888-1
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08888-1
Data Access Statement: The full study protocol is available in the preregistration on the OSF webpage (https://osf.io/92tbg/), including a detailed description of the experimental design, the predictions of the theories and agreed-on interpretations of the results, as well as iEEG, MEG and fMRI data acquisition details, preprocessing pipelines and data analysis procedures. Deviations from the preregistration are documented throughout the article and summarized in section 14 of the Supplementary Information. All data generated in this study are available under a CC BY 4.0 license. The M-EEG, fMRI and iEEG datasets are distributed through two methods: as downloadable data bundles and via an XNAT instance, which enables search functionality and single-participant downloads. Data bundles can be accessed (https://www.arc-cogitate.com/data-bundles) in raw format (M-EEG raw, fMRI raw and iEEG raw) and BIDS format (M-EEG BIDS, fMRI BIDS and iEEG BIDS). [See article for the full data access statement.]
PubMed id: 40307561
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