scholarly journals Mathematics and the Brain: A Category Theoretical Approach to Go Beyond the Neural Correlates of Consciousness

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Northoff ◽  
Naotsugu Tsuchiya ◽  
Hayato Saigo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Transformation ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Mathematical Concepts ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
Formal Framework ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Integrated Information Theory

Consciousness is a central issue in neuroscience, however, we still lack a formal framework that can address the nature of the relationship between consciousness and its physical substrates. In this review, we provide a novel mathematical framework of category theory (CT), in which we can define and study the sameness between different domains of phenomena such as consciousness and its neural substrates. CT was designed and developed to deal with the relationships between various domains of phenomena. We introduce three concepts of CT which include (i) category; (ii) inclusion functor and expansion functor; and, most importantly, (iii) natural transformation between the functors. Each of these mathematical concepts is related to specific features in the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). In this novel framework, we will examine two of the major theories of consciousness, integrated information theory (IIT) of consciousness and temporospatial theory of consciousness (TTC). We conclude that CT, especially the application of the notion of natural transformation, highlights that we need to go beyond NCC and unravels questions that need to be addressed by any future neuroscientific theory of consciousness.

scholarly journals Mathematics and the brain –a category theoretic approach to go beyond the neural correlates of consciousness

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Northoff ◽  
Naotsugu Tsuchiya ◽  
Hayato Saigo
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Category Theory ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Spatial Theory ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
Neuronal Mechanisms ◽  
Mathematical Formalization ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Integrated Information Theory ◽  
Integrated Information

AbstractConsciousness is a central issue in cognitive neuroscience. To explain the relationship between consciousness and its neural correlates, various theories have been proposed. We still lack a formal framework that can address the nature of the relationship between consciousness and its physical substrates though. Here, we provide a novel mathematical framework of Category Theory (CT), in which we can define and study the “sameness” between “different” domains of phenomena such as consciousness and its neural substrates. CT was designed and developed to deal with the “relationships” between various domains of phenomena. We introduce three concepts of CT including (i) category; (ii) inclusion functor and expansion functor; and (iii) natural transformation between the functors. Each of these mathematical concepts is related to specific features in the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). In this novel framework, we will examine two of the major theories of consciousness: integrated information theory (IIT) of consciousness and temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). These theories concern the structural relationships among structures of physical substrates and subjective experiences. The three CT-based concepts, introduced in this paper, unravel some basic issues in our search for the NCC; while addressing the same questions, we show that IIT and TTC provide different albeit complementary answers. Importantly, our account suggests that we need to go beyond a traditional concept of NCC including both content-specific and full NCC. We need to shift our focus from the relationship between “one” neuronal and “one” phenomenal state to the relationship between a structure of neural states and a structure of phenomenal states. We conclude that CT unravels and highlights basic questions about the NCC in general which needs to be met and addressed by any future neuroscientific theory of consciousness.Author summaryNeuroscience has made considerable progress in uncovering the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). At the same time, recent studies demonstrated the complexity of the neuronal mechanisms underlying consciousness. To make further progress in the neuroscience of consciousness, we need proper mathematical formalization of the neuronal mechanisms potentially underlying consciousness. Providing a first tentative attempt, our paper addresses both by (i) pointing out the specific problems of and proposing a new approach to go beyond the traditional approach of the neural correlates of consciousness, and (ii) by recruiting a recently popular mathematical formalization, category theory (CT). With CT, we provide mathematical formalization of the broader neural correlates of consciousness by its application to two of the major theories, integrated information theory (IIT) and temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). Together, our CT-based mathematical formalization of the neural correlates of consciousness including its specification in the terms of IIT and TTC allows to go beyond the current concept of NCC in both mathematical and neural terms.

scholarly journals Ask and You Shall Receive: A closer look on unsolved consciousness issue

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Motavalli ◽  
◽  
Javad Mahmoudi ◽  
Alireza Majdi ◽  
Saeed Sadigh-Eteghad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
The Brain

Although there are numerous views about the concept of consciousness, no consensus exists regarding the meaning. However, with the aid of the latest neuroscientific developments, the misleading obstacles related to consciousness have been removed. Over the last few decades, neuroscientific efforts in determining the function of the brain and merging these findings with philosophical theories, have brought a more comprehensive perception of the notion of consciousness. In addition to metaphysical/ontological views of consciousness e.g., higher-order theories, reflexive theories, and representationalist theories, there are some brain directed topics in this matter which include but not are limited to neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), brain loop connectivity, and lateralization. This narrative review sheds light on cultural and historical aspects of consciousness in old and middle ages and introduces some of the prominent philosophical discussions related to mind and body. Also, it illustrates the correlation of brain function with states of consciousness with a focus on the roles of function and connectivity.

scholarly journals From Learning to Consciousness: An Example Using Expected Float Entropy Minimisation

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Jonathan Mason
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Free Energy ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Energy Principle ◽  
Free Energy Principle ◽  
Association Learning ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Integrated Information Theory

Over recent decades several mathematical theories of consciousness have been put forward including Karl Friston’s Free Energy Principle and Giulio Tononi’s Integrated Information Theory. In this article we further investigate theory based on Expected Float Entropy (EFE) minimisation which has been around since 2012. EFE involves a version of Shannon Entropy parameterised by relationships. It turns out that, for systems with bias due to learning, certain choices for the relationship parameters are isolated since giving much lower EFE values than others and, hence, the system defines relationships. It is proposed that, in the context of all these relationships, a brain state acquires meaning in the form of the relational content of the associated experience. EFE minimisation is itself an association learning process and its effectiveness as such is tested in this article. The theory and results are consistent with the proposition of there being a close connection between association learning processes and the emergence of consciousness. Such a theory may explain how the brain defines the content of consciousness up to relationship isomorphism.

Global-workspace theory

2019 ◽  
pp. 96-115
Author(s):  
Peter Carruthers
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Global Workspace ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Global Workspace Theory

The present chapter outlines and defends the empirical case supporting global-workspace theory as the best account of the functional/neural correlates of consciousness, at least. The chapter explains the theoretical background to global-workspace theory and the evidence that supports it. It shows how the theory is well-supported by raft of findings in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, as well as by recent experiments tracking conscious contents in the brain. The chapter also replies to a variety of critiques and alleged forms of counter-evidence. It concludes by considering whether the fact that much of this evidence has been collected in work with nonhuman animals begs the consciousness-question that forms our topic (arguing that it does not).

scholarly journals The Neural Correlates of Consciousness and Attention: Two Sister Processes of the Brain

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Nani ◽  
Jordi Manuello ◽  
Lorenzo Mancuso ◽  
Donato Liloia ◽  
Tommaso Costa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals On the dangers of conflating strong and weak versions of a theory of consciousness

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (II) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Michel ◽  
Hakwan Lau
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Limbic System ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
Sensory Cortices ◽  
Integrated Information Theory ◽  
Integrated Information

Some proponents of the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of consciousness profess strong views on the Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC), namely that large swathes of the neocortex, the cerebellum, at least some sensory cortices, and the so-called limbic system are all not essential for any form of conscious experiences. We argue that this connection is not incidental. Conflation between strong and weak versions of the theory has led these researchers to adopt definitions of NCC that are inconsistent with their own previous definitions, inadvertently betraying the promises of an otherwise fruitful empirical endeavour.

scholarly journals Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (II) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Hohwy ◽  
Anil Seth
Keyword(s):  
Brain Function ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Promising Candidate ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
Significant Potential ◽  
Strong Potential ◽  
Processing Framework

The search for the neural correlates of consciousness is in need of a systematic, principled foundation that can endow putative neural correlates with greater predictive and explanatory value. Here, we propose the predictive processing framework for brain function as a promising candidate for providing this systematic foundation. The proposal is motivated by that framework’s ability to address three general challenges to identifying the neural correlates of consciousness, and to satisfy two constraints common to many theories of consciousness. Implementing the search for neural correlates of consciousness through the lens of predictive processing delivers strong potential for predictive and explanatory value through detailed, systematic mappings between neural substrates and phenomenological structure. We conclude that the predictive processing framework, precisely because it at the outset is not itself a theory of consciousness, has significant potential for advancing the neuroscience of consciousness.

scholarly journals The neural correlates of consciousness: an analysis of cognitive skill learning

1998 ◽  
Vol 353 (1377) ◽  
pp. 1889-1901 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
M. E. Raichle
Keyword(s):  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Cognitive Skill ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Neural Correlates Of Consciousness ◽  
Baseline Activity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Imaging Strategy ◽  
The Brain

This paper presents a functional brain–imaging strategy designed to isolate neural correlates of consciousness in humans. This strategy is based on skill learning. In the example presented (rapidly generating verbs for visually presented nouns), a cognitive skill is examined before and after practice. As shown, there are marked qualitative differences in the neural circuitry supporting performance of this task in the naive and practised state that include, importantly, both increases and decreases from the baseline activity of the brain.

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