David J Chalmers

A survey of views about infant consciousness

Neuroscience of Consciousness January 17, 2026 Claudia Passos-Ferreira, David J Chalmers

A survey of neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, and other experts at two conferences on consciousness found that a majority believe newborn infants are conscious. A plurality of respondents think consciousness emerges prenatally after 24 weeks of gestation, while self-consciousness emerges postnatally after 6 months of age. Large majorities agree that infants have sensory and affective consciousness, but fewer think they have cognitive or agentive consciousness. A plurality locates the neural basis of infant consciousness in the sensory cortex. Most experts favor behavioral and neural markers, rather than theories of consciousness, as guides to studying infant consciousness.