Schrödinger's cat and mouse: An adapted thought experiment for the context of consciousness.
Behavioural brain research April 12, 2025 Eamonn Eeles, Dana Pourzinal, Jalal Baland et al.
Consciousness can be divided into access consciousness (A-C), which involves reasoning and memory and is measurable, and phenomenal consciousness (P-C), the subjective experience of 'what it's like,' which is harder to test directly. Researchers previously developed indirect measures of P-C using subjective questions informed by objective dimensions of A-C. To bridge the gap before clinical validation, they adapted a thought experiment from quantum physics—'Schrödinger's cat and mouse'—to test the principles underlying their operationalization of P-C. This thought experiment suggests their theories on consciousness, particularly P-C, resonate with disorders of consciousness such as delirium.