Neurophenomenal structuralism. A philosophical agenda for a structuralist neuroscience of consciousness.
Neurosci Conscious August 23, 2022 Holger Lyre 30 citations
Neurophenomenal structuralism proposes that conscious experiences are best understood not as properties of individual neurons but as relationships among neural structures. The framework argues that the brain's self-organized neural maps share a structural, homomorphic mapping with the quality spaces of phenomenal experience. This approach offers a solution to the Newman problem by grounding phenomenal content in spatiotemporal relations rather than intrinsic neural features. It advocates for measurement methods that capture relationships between stimuli, such as similarity ratings and representational geometry. Philosophically, the view entails holism about phenomenal experiences and rules out inverted qualia scenarios, where color experiences could be swapped without behavioral change.