Consciousness may be explained by multiple, partly compatible theories rather than a single winner. A group of scientists representing different theories argue that various accounts often address different aspects or mechanistic levels of conscious experience, so they do not necessarily contradict each other. Instead, several theories may converge on fundamental neuronal mechanisms and be complementary, allowing multiple perspectives to simultaneously advance understanding. The authors advocate for unifying, integration-oriented approaches that combine valuable elements from diverse theories, an approach that has so far been largely neglected.
The conscious experience of seeing motion in a particular direction is linked to the activity of specialized neuron clusters in the brain's motion-processing area. Using high-resolution 7-tesla fMRI, researchers identified clusters of neurons in the human motion complex that responded preferentially to either horizontal or vertical motion. When participants viewed an ambiguous display that could be seen as moving either horizontally or vertically, their reported perceptions alternated every 7 to 13 seconds. The activity in the horizontal- and vertical-tuned clusters dissociatively reflected which direction the person perceived at any moment, even though the visual input remained constant. These clusters were organized in columns, with stable direction preferences through the depth of the cortex.