medRxiv Preprint Server
June 17, 2026
Danny Nacker, Luise Kalus, Anil K. Seth et al.
preprint
Stroboscopic light stimulation (SLS) is a candidate non-pharmacological intervention that induces transient visual and affective experiences, with potential application in depression. Before efficacy testing, clinical development requires safety, tolerability and feasibility data. We report a staged, single-site programme in adults reporting depressive symptoms. Work Package (WP) 1 tested 11...
PsyArXiv
May 29, 2026
Zefan Zheng, Robert Chis-Ciure, Peter Thestrup Waade et al.
1 citation
preprint
Consciousness science is fragmented, and empirical investigations are confined within each theory of consciousness’ (TOC) framework. Proliferating ToCs accumulate anomalies without progress, operating orthogonally. The principle of recurrency – functional and architectural – offers a unifying, mechanistic scaffold for consciousness to arise. We show that all theories tacitly invoke feedback...
Physics of Life Reviews
March 1, 2026
Robert Chis-Ciure
This commentary commends Evers et al.'s multidimensional heuristic for structuring artificial consciousness research while arguing it cannot, as stated, adjudicate the nomological possibility of phenomenal consciousness, which is at stake in current debates. Behavioral-cognitive "profiles" lack a justified principle linking function to experience, and the awareness case study illustrates how...
Philosophical Explorations
September 2, 2025
Robert Chis-Ciure
1 citation
This paper links mathematical consciousness science, particularly Integrated Information Theory (IIT), to Immanuel Kant's philosophy. Skeptics of IIT's theoretical foundation often target its fundamental identity between an experience and Φ-structure. My account brings in the Kantian notion that this identity is a constitutive a priori principle and responds to some objections by drawing on...
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
June 1, 2024
Robert Chis-Ciure, Lucia Melloni, Georg Northoff
Consciousness science is marred by disparate constructs and methodologies, making it challenging to systematically compare theories. This foundational crisis casts doubts on the scientific character of the field itself. Addressing it, we propose a framework for systematically comparing consciousness theories by introducing a novel inter-theory classification interface, the Measure Centrality...
Consciousness and Cognition
April 1, 2022
Francesco Ellia, Robert Chis-Ciure
In this paper we take a meta-theoretical stance and compare and assess two conceptual frameworks that endeavor to explain phenomenal experience. In particular, we compare Feinberg & Mallatt's Neurobiological Naturalism (NN) and Tononi's and colleagues Integrated Information Theory (IIT), given that the former pointed out some similarities between the two theories (Feinberg & Mallatt 2016c-d)....
Francesco Ellia, Robert Chis-Ciure
preprint
In this paper we take a meta-theoretical stance to compare two frameworks that endeavor to explain phenomenal experience. In particular, we compare Feinberg & Mallatt’s Neurobiological Naturalism (NN) and Tononi and colleagues’ Integrated Information Theory (IIT), given that the former pointed out some similarities between the two theories (Feinberg & Mallatt 2016c-d). To probe how similar they...
Robert Chis-Ciure
preprint
This paper deals with a foundational aspect of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of consciousness: the nature of the relation between the axioms of phenomenology and the postulates of cause-effect power. There has been a lack of clarity in the literature regarding this crucial issue, for which IIT has received much criticism of its axiomatic method and basic tenets. The present contribution...
Robert Chis-Ciure, Francesco Ellia
preprint
In this paper we provide a philosophical analysis of the Hard Problem of consciousness and the implications of conceivability scenarios for current neuroscientific research. In particular, we focus on one of the most prominent neuroscientific theories of consciousness, Integrated Information Theory (IIT). After a brief introduction on IIT, we present Chalmers’ original formulation and propose...