Consciousness is one of the most familiar phenomena in nature, but it is also one of the least understood.

What is the relationship between consciousness and the brain?

Many theories have emerged in recent years, but there is no consensus. Led by project directors Biyu Jade He (New York University Grossman School of Medicine), David Chalmers (New York University), and Ned Block (New York University), this project aims to test two classes of theories of the brain basis of visual consciousness: In first-order theories, visual consciousness involves a sensory representation of the external world, with a neural basis in the visual cortex. In higher-order theories, visual consciousness involves a higher-order representation of a sensory representation, with a neural basis in the prefrontal cortex.

The project is structured as two synergistic branches of research designed to meet the high standards of open science. One branch, led by Biyu Jade He (NYU School of Medicine) and Jan Brascamp (Michigan State University), is designed to put pressure on Higher Order Representation of a Representation (HOROR) theory, a variant of higher-order theories; the other branch, led by Megan Peters (University of California Irvine) and Rachel Denison (Boston University), is designed to put pressure on first-order theories, specifically the Local Recurrency Theory of consciousness. Whatever the result, this adversarial collaboration will lead to a higher level of rigor in the scientific study of consciousness and help narrow down the space of viable theories.

Theory leaders (Richard Brown, Victor A. F. Lamme, Hakwan Lau) joined the experimental team members (see pages below) to design two experiments that attempt to falsify higher-order and first-order theories. The team designed experimental paradigms that may falsify opposing theories by dissociating visual consciousness from its neural correlates according to those theories.

Learn more about the project's two synergistic branches

FOHO-HO

FOHO-LO

Project PIs

Biyu Jade He

Biyu is currently Associate Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Radiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She is also an investigator in the Neuroscience Institute. Her laboratory uses a combination of multimodal human brain imaging, brain stimulation, and computational approaches to investigate the neural mechanisms of perceptual processing in the human brain. She has also made original contributions to understanding the functional roles of spontaneous brain activity and aperiodic brain activity.

David Chalmers

Dave is a philosopher and cognitive scientist, specializing in philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. He is a professor of philosophy and neural science at New York University (NYU), as well as co-director of NYU's Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness (along with Ned Block). In 2006, he was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. In 2013, he was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dave is best known for formulating the hard problem of consciousness, and for popularizing the philosophical zombie thought experiment.

Ned Block

Ned works in philosophy of mind who has made important contributions to the understanding of consciousness and the philosophy of cognitive science. He has been professor of philosophy and psychology at New York University since 1996, and a Silver Professor since 2005. He is known for his contributions to consciousness science, including distinctions between access and phenomenal consciousness and the overflow argument.

Megan Peters

Megan is an Associate Professor in the UCI Department of Cognitive Sciences, affiliate faculty member of the UCI Department of Logic & Philosophy of Science, and Fellow in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Brain Mind & Consciousness program. She is also President, Co-founder, and Chairperson of the Board of Directors at Neuromatch. Her research aims to reveal how the brain represents and uses uncertainty, and what these metacognitive abilities might relate to conscious subjective experience. She uses neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG) in humans, computational modeling, and machine learning and artificial intelligence to study these topics.

Rachel Denison

Rachel is an Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University. Her lab studies visual perception, attention, awareness, and decision making, asking how our perceptual experiences and behavior are generated in real time. Her lab's research integrates approaches from cognitive and computational neuroscience and vision science, including behavioral measurements (psychophysics, eye tracking), neural measurements (fMRI, EEG/MEG), and computational modeling.

Jan Brascamp

Jan is an Associate Professor of Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience at Michigan State University. Research in his lab focuses on the neural processes of interpretation and selection that allow sensation (the retinas detecting light) to turn into conscious visual perception (seeing). They approach this topic using a diverse array of techniques from psychology and neuroscience, including psychophysics, brain imaging (fMRI), computational modeling, eye tracking and brain stimulation (TMS).