Nature
June 1, 2025
Oscar Ferrante, Urszula Gorska-Klimowska, Simon Henin et al.
94 citations
Different theories explain how subjective experience arises from brain activity. An open science adversarial collaboration directly juxtaposed integrated information theory (IIT) and global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT). Human participants (n = 256) viewed suprathreshold stimuli for variable durations while neural activity was measured with fMRI, MEG, and intracranial EEG. Information about conscious content was found 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 but substantially challenge key tenets of both theories, including a lack of sustained posterior cortex synchronization for IIT and a lack of ignition at stimulus offset and limited prefrontal representation for GNWT.
Cell reports
December 24, 2024
Lim-Anna Sieu, Shobhit Singla, Jiayang Liu et al.
8 citations
Focal temporal lobe seizures in humans often cause loss of consciousness accompanied by cortical slow waves similar to deep sleep. Previous rat studies under anesthesia suggested that reduced subcortical arousal depresses cortical function, but could not link conscious behavior to physiology. In an awake mouse model, electrically induced hippocampal seizures impaired behavioral responses to sounds, triggered cortical slow waves, and reduced mean high-frequency cortical activity. Behavioral responses depended on cortical acetylcholine release at two timescales: slow state-related decreases correlated with overall impairment, while fast phasic release corresponded to variable spared or impaired responses per stimulus. These results establish a strong link between decreased cortical arousal and impaired consciousness during focal seizures.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
June 23, 2023
Oscar Ferrante, Urszula Gorska-Klimowska, Simon Henin et al.
preprint
An open science adversarial collaboration directly juxtaposed Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) by investigating neural correlates of visual experience. 256 human subjects viewed suprathreshold stimuli for variable durations while neural activity was measured with fMRI, MEG, and ECoG. Information about conscious content was found in visual, ventro-temporal, 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.