THEORIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN NON-HUMAN PRIMATES AND MICE
Testing Global Neuronal Workspace and Integrated Information
In order to understand consciousness, we have to uncover what kinds of brain activity correspond exactly with conscious experiences. These elusive forms of activity are known as neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). Two major theories of consciousness, Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW) and Integrated Information Theory (IIT), propose fundamentally different NCC. This adversarial collaboration, replicated across multiple laboratories, tests GNW and IIT. This is the third in a series of Structured Adversarial Collaborations, from the labs of Maria Geffen (University of Pennsylvania), Shawn Olsen (Allen Institute), Theofanis Panagiotaropoulos (Neurospin) and Yuri Saalmann (University of Wisconsin – Madison).
The project team will use high-density Neuropixels probes, to record activity from individual neurons across the anterior-posterior extent of the cerebral cortex in non-human primates (NHPs) and mice. They will also employ electrical stimulation (NHPs) or optogenetics (mice) to causally manipulate brain networks to resolve key and opposing predictions of each theory. The behavioral paradigm involves NHPs and mice viewing / listening to suprathreshold visual / auditory stimuli for variable durations in a go-nogo task that controls for report confounds, as well as a backward masking condition to manipulate awareness.
To test specific predictions of GNW and IIT, the team will perform a series of analyses of the neural data. This includes decoding of the data during different stimulus conditions, and measuring interactions between neurons, to distinguish neural representations related to conscious experience from those related to report.
This will provide first-of-its-kind, high spatiotemporal resolution tests of, and causal evidence for / against, each theory of consciousness. Further, it will shed light on whether mechanisms are shared across species, providing insight into the evolution of the NCC.
The proposed outputs of this project are a number of high-impact research publications, a freely and publicly available large dataset, and analytical tools. The impacts of the successful project will be evidence supporting or challenging each major theory of consciousness, and a significantly advanced understanding of the nature of consciousness.
