Cognitive Neuropsychology
January 1, 2020
Richard Brown, Joseph E LeDoux
26 citations
The Attention Schema Theory (AST) of consciousness attempts to unify Global Workspace Theory, Illusionism, and Higher-Order Thought (HOT) theory. This response argues that AST misrepresents HOT by equating subjective experience with dualism and by presenting HOT as a form of strong illusionism, which it is not. HOT requires awareness of one's mental life through re-representation of lower-order states, but AST denies re-representing visual stimuli. An alternative unification is proposed: Global Workspace Theory and AST explain how lower-order states are assembled and maintained, while HOT accounts for subjective experience.
Neuron
June 17, 2026
Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel, Jun Seo Hwang, Hakwan Lau et al.
Growing public discussion about consciousness in animals, fetuses, organoids, and artificial intelligence has prompted strong claims. However, most of these claims rely on 'markers' of consciousness that measure general information processing capacity rather than subjective experience itself. Consequently, the usefulness of such markers for settling theoretical debates about consciousness may be limited.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
September 1, 2019
Richard Brown, H. Lau, Joseph E LeDoux
The higher-order theory (HOT) of consciousness is often misunderstood. This theoretical paper clarifies HOT's position, distinguishing it from global workspace theory and early sensory models. Critics have accused HOT of overintellectualizing consciousness, but the authors argue that the cognitive requirements for higher-order states are considerably less than often presumed, positioning HOT as intermediate between other views. Most HOT proponents do not equate consciousness with metacognition or confidence. Compared to other theories, HOT can better account for complex everyday experiences like emotions and episodic memories, making it useful for conceptualizing pathological mental states.
Nature Human Behaviour
February 1, 2019
M. Michel, Diane M Beck, N. Block et al.
Advancing scientific research on consciousness is important for addressing clinical and ethical issues in neurology and mental health. To support this field, funding priorities must be set carefully, and challenges such as job creation and media misrepresentation need to be addressed.
Cerebrum
January 1, 2018
Joseph E LeDoux, Richard Brown, D. Pine et al.
Studying subjective experience is a major challenge for cognitive scientists, but one that is now receiving more attention. Subjectivity makes experience harder to measure with traditional objective scientific methods than other topics. The authors argue that to truly understand the mind, subjectivity must eventually be investigated and understood.