Researchers from Oxford University have embarked on an innovative study that is putting established consciousness theories to the test
Recently featured in Nature, this groundbreaking research attempts to decode one of the most puzzling phenomena humans have encountered: our own sense of conscious awareness.
A Journey into the Mind
The essence of consciousness, encompassing the personal perception of seeing a visage, hearing a tune, or experiencing the sensation of heat, has always baffled great minds in both science and philosophy. The Cogitate Consortium, led by Oxford’s own Professor Ole Jensen from the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry, decided to break the mold with a novel approach. Their strategy involved an adversarial collaboration, uniting experts behind the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) and the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) in a single investigation.
Heeding the strategy proposed by Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Laureate in Psychology, the researchers went against the grain of traditional bias. Committing to a protocol where their hypotheses, methodologies, and interpretations were detailed in advance, the team aimed to eliminate post-hoc rationalizations for their results. Their experimental design hinges on transparency and places them in a vulnerable position for critique. “Science often favors affirmations rather than contradictions,” suggested the announcement from Oxford University.
Involving over 250 individuals, the study utilized a range of techniques, encompassing functional MRI (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and intracranial EEG measurements conducted on epilepsy patients. With oversight from an impartial panel of investigators, the consortium plunged into an environment where their lifetime of theories could be refuted.
Structured under the guidance of GNWT advocate Stanislas Dehaene and IIT’s Giulio Tononi, the endeavor represents a crucial stride in the quest to understand consciousness. It harnesses cutting-edge neuroimaging methods to pit these prominent theories against one another. The Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford provides additional insight into the experimental framework and expected outcomes of this fascinating study.
