Using category theory to assess the relationship between consciousness and integrated information theory.
Neurosciences research June 1, 2016 Naotsugu Tsuchiya, S. Taguchi, H. Saigo
A recently developed theoretical framework called integrated information theory (IIT) proposes that conscious experience is identical to a maximally irreducible conceptual structure (MICS). However, no principled way to assess this claimed identity has existed. The authors propose applying category theory, a mathematical formalism, to evaluate whether a proper translation exists between the domain of conscious experience and that of the MICS. If such a translation exists, questions in one domain could be answered in the other, potentially resolving difficult questions about consciousness through mathematics. The authors claim it is possible to empirically test for such a functor using neuroscientific and computational approaches, providing a general, principled framework for assessing the relationship between consciousness and mathematical structures.