Behavioural Brain Research
February 1, 2022
G. Northoff, Federico Zilio
138 citations
A review of the Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC) proposes that consciousness arises from the brain's spontaneous activity, not just from external stimuli. The TTC aims to bridge gaps between spontaneous and stimulus-related neural activity and between neuronal and phenomenal features. It introduces four mechanisms—expansion, globalization, alignment, and nestedness—linked to distinct dimensions of consciousness: phenomenal content, access, form/structure, and level/state. The authors conclude the TTC offers a unifying framework for different neuroscientific theories and generates empirically grounded hypotheses about the biological nature of consciousness and its relation to the brain.
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
June 1, 2025
G. Northoff, Andrea Buccellato, Bianca Ventura
The default mode network (DMN) shows distinct dynamic and topographic features compared to other brain networks, and their link to consciousness is unclear. A review of neural and mental findings across nonordinary states of consciousness—including reduced (anesthesia, Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome), elevated (meditation, psychedelics), and abnormal (depression, mania) states—reveals that both reduced and elevated states involve topographic 'flattening' of DMN-centric organization but differ in dynamics: longer versus shorter timescales.
bioRxiv
September 23, 2020
Pengmin Qin, Xuehai Wu, Changwei W Wu et al.
preprint
Local brain regions may support consciousness by acting as hubs within the brain's global network. Using resting-state fMRI data from people in various conscious states—NREM-sleep, REM-sleep, anesthesia, and brain injury patients—and a graph-theoretical measure for detecting local hubs, the authors identify higher-order sensory and motor regions whose degree centrality is significantly reduced during unconsciousness. These regions form a sensorimotor circuit that correlates with levels of consciousness. The findings suggest that integration of higher-order sensorimotor function may be a key mechanism of consciousness, opening novel perspectives for therapeutic modulation of unconsciousness.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
August 9, 2020
G. Northoff, V. Lamme
Various theories of the neural basis of consciousness propose diverse neural signs and mechanisms. This review asks whether that diversity is real or whether theories share basic ideas that could converge. It compares neural signs, measures, and mechanisms across theories, showing that different theories focus on distinct aspects of neural activity—stimulus-related, prestimulus, and resting state—and on distinct features of consciousness. The mechanisms may partly complement each other. The authors conclude that the different theories concern distinct aspects of neural activity and consciousness that may be integrated and nested within the brain's overall temporo-spatial dynamics.
Physics of Life Reviews
July 1, 2020
G. Northoff, Soren Wainio-Theberge, K. Evers
The brain's spontaneous activity constructs its own inner time and space, and this spatiotemporal dynamics may be the missing link between neural activity and mental phenomena such as self, consciousness, and time perception. The authors propose 'Spatiotemporal Neuroscience,' which focuses on the brain's temporo-spatial dynamics—like functional connectivity and frequency fluctuations—rather than on specific cognitive or affective functions. They show how mechanisms such as spatiotemporal repertoire, integration, and speed give rise to distinct mental features. This approach treats the relationship between neuronal and mental features as intrinsic and non-causal, offering a common currency that connects brain and mind.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
January 26, 2020
P. Frewen, M. Schroeter, G. Riva et al.
A review of neuroimaging research on self-referential processing (SRP) distinguishes between verbal and non-verbal forms, each occurring in controlled, top-down tasks (introspection and interoception) and in spontaneous, bottom-up states (mind wandering and body wandering during rest). The authors propose a conceptual and methodological framework for future SRP research, which they apply to understanding psychological and neurological disorders linked to abnormal SRP. The discussion draws on William James' writings on the consciousness of self.
Entropy
December 1, 2019
G. Northoff, Naotsugu Tsuchiya, H. Saigo
A mathematical framework called category theory (CT) can formally define and study the relationship between consciousness and its neural substrates. CT uses concepts such as category, inclusion functor, expansion functor, and natural transformation, each mapped to specific features in the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). Applying CT to integrated information theory (IIT) and the temporospatial theory of consciousness (TTC) shows that natural transformation reveals the need to go beyond NCC and raises questions that any future neuroscientific theory of consciousness must address.