How does a serial, integrated and very limited stream of consciousness emerge from a nervous system that is mostly unconscious, distributed, parallel and of enormous capacity?
Ciba Foundation symposium January 1, 1993 B J Baars
Global Workspace theory proposes that conscious experience arises when specialized unconscious processors in the brain compete for access to a global broadcasting capability; the winning processor disseminates its information widely, enabling integration across separate modules. This architecture, also used in computer systems, accounts for phenomena from perceptual consciousness to problem-solving, voluntary action, and directed attention. The theory is consistent with limited-capacity mechanisms but not reducible to them. It requires competition for input to a neural global workspace and global distribution of output, functions carried out by brain structures necessary for normal conscious experience. The theory generates testable predictions for high-speed brain imaging.