A novel theoretical framework called the ALARM theory of consciousness distinguishes two levels: basic arousal, an alarm system for survival under sudden intense threats, and general alertness, which enables flexible learning and behavior. This two-level account explains recent discoveries of subcortical brain activities involving the thalamus, differences in non-human animal behavior suggesting two types of conscious experience, unifies neural evidence for subcortical and cortico-cortical processes, and clarifies the evolutionary and functional role of conscious experiences.
A framework for studying animal consciousness distinguishes two questions: which species are conscious, and how their conscious experiences differ. The two-tier account analyzes consciousness along ten dimensions, using cognitive capacities like learning, reasoning, and abstraction as operational indicators for each dimension. This approach separates strong from weak evidence for consciousness, includes differences in how content is processed, and allows combining evidence across dimensions to create a multi-dimensional consciousness profile for each species. The framework enables systematic comparison of conscious experiences across species.
Human self-consciousness requires presupposing a self, but not a fixed metaphysical substance or a purely narrative entity. Instead, an embodied self—flexible and variable—is necessary, best accounted for by a pattern theory of the self. Self-consciousness arises from integrating an embodied, basic affective flow with an intentional object, such as the self as agent or center of imagination, anchored in this embodied self. The pattern theory fits within the predictive coding framework, where self-representation and world-representation develop in parallel, always activated together when interacting with the world.