Physics of Life Reviews - The Consciousness Library

On the minimal theory of consciousness implicit in active inference.

Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2026 Christopher J. Whyte, Andrew W. Corcoran, Jonathan Robinson et al. 5 citations

The multifaceted nature of subjective experience poses a challenge to the study of consciousness. Traditional neuroscientific approaches often concentrate on isolated facets, such as perceptual awareness or the global state of consciousness and construct a theory around the relevant empirical paradigms and findings. Theories of consciousness are, therefore, often difficult to compare; indeed,...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2025.11.002 Full text Active inference Computational neuroscience Consciousness

The unbearable hardness of inferring being: Comment on "preliminaries to artificial consciousness" by Evers et al.

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...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2025.12.004 Full text Artificial consciousness Multiple realizability Nomological possibility Original intentionality +2

Illuminating brain's "dark energy": a living lens of spontaneous slow oscillations. reply to comments on 'dark brain energy: toward an integrative model of spontaneous slow oscillations'.

Physics of Life Reviews January 21, 2026 Zhu-Qing Gong, Xi-Nian Zuo 3 citations

In our target article "Dark Brain Energy: Toward an Integrative Model of Spontaneous Slow Oscillations", we proposed a three-layer hierarchical framework to model the spontaneous slow oscillations (SSOs) across six frequency bands to delineate their spectral architecture, functional roles, and neurocognitive basis. We are grateful for the seven insightful commentary articles from colleagues...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2026.01.007 Full text Sso Brain hierarchy Consciousness Neural eigenmodes +2

From pre-stimulus activity to the contents of consciousness - A spatiotemporal view: Reply to comments on "Beyond task response-Pre-stimulus activity modulates contents of consciousness".

Physics of Life Reviews July 1, 2025 Georg Northoff, Federico Zilio, Jianfeng Zhang

What are the exact neuronal mechanisms of pre-post-stimulus interaction and how can that account for the intrinsically subjective nature of the contents of consciousness? This is the key question lurking behind the various excellent and very thoughtful commentaries to our target article which we group along four main topics and questions. (i) What is the role of neural features like alpha...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2025.02.006 Full text Alpha band Non-additive interaction Pre-post-stimulus interaction Trial-to-trial variability

Connecting brain and mind through temporo-spatial dynamics: Towards a theory of common currency.

Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025 Georg Northoff, Andrea Buccellato, Federico Zilio 31 citations

Despite major progress in our understanding of the brain, the connection of neural and mental features, that is, brain and mind, remains yet elusive. In our 2020 target paper ("Is temporospatial dynamics the 'common currency' of brain and mind? Spatiotemporal Neuroscience") we proposed the "Common currency hypothesis": temporo-spatial dynamics are shared by neural and mental features, providing...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.11.012 Full text

The paradox of the self-studying brain.

Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025 Simone Battaglia, Philippe Servajean, Karl Friston 14 citations

The paradox of a brain trying to study itself presents a conundrum, raising questions about self-reference, consciousness, psychiatric disorders, and the boundaries of scientific inquiry. By which means can this complex organ shift the focus of study towards itself? We aim at unpacking the intricacies of this paradox. Historically, this question has been raised by philosophers under different...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.12.009 Full text Brain Consciousness Introspection Neurophenomenology +2

Preliminaries to artificial consciousness: A multidimensional heuristic approach.

Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025 Kathinka Evers, Michele Farisco, R Chatila et al. 7 citations

The pursuit of artificial consciousness requires conceptual clarity to navigate its theoretical and empirical challenges. This paper introduces a composite, multilevel, and multidimensional model of consciousness as a heuristic framework to guide research in this field. Consciousness is treated as a complex phenomenon, with distinct constituents and dimensions that can be operationalized for...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2025.01.002 Full text

Nature heals: An informational entropy account of self-organization and change in field psychotherapy.

Physics of Life Reviews December 1, 2024 Pietro Sarasso, Wolfgang Tschacher, Félix Schoeller et al. 11 citations

This paper reviews biophysical models of psychotherapeutic change based on synergetics and the free energy principle. These models suggest that introducing sensory surprise into the patient-therapist system can lead to self-organization and the formation of new attractor states, disrupting entrenched patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. We propose that the therapist can facilitate...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.005 Full text Biophysics Entropy Field-based psychotherapy Free-energy principle +2

The sound of thought: Form matters-The prosody of inner speech.

Physics of Life Reviews December 1, 2024 Hamutal Kreiner, Zohar Eviatar 9 citations

This paper offers a new perspective on inner speech based on the theoretical framework of embodiment, focusing on the embodiment of structure rather than content. We argue that inner speech is used to simulate the acoustic aspects of overt speech including prosody. Prosody refers to the rhythm, intonation, and stress of spoken language, which is closely related to structural aspects of phrases,...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.10.006 Full text Form and structure Inner speech Language Prosody +1

Beyond task response-Pre-stimulus activity modulates contents of consciousness.

Physics of Life Reviews July 1, 2024 Georg Northoff, Federico Zilio, Jianfeng Zhang

The current discussion on the neural correlates of the contents of consciousness (NCCc) focuses mainly on the post-stimulus period of task-related activity. This neglects the substantial impact of the spontaneous or ongoing activity of the brain as manifest in pre-stimulus activity. Does the interaction of pre- and post-stimulus activity shape the contents of consciousness? Addressing this gap...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.03.002 Full text Alpha band Non-additive interaction Pre-post-stimulus interaction Trial-to-trial variability

Aromatic patterns: Tryptophan aromaticity as a catalyst for the emergence of life and rise of consciousness.

Physics of Life Reviews September 1, 2022 Amal Alachkar

Sunlight held the key to the origin of life on Earth. The earliest life forms, cyanobacteria, captured the sunlight to generate energy through photosynthesis. Life on Earth evolved in accordance with the circadian rhythms tied to sensitivity to sunlight patterns. A unique feature of cyanobacterial photosynthetic proteins and circadian rhythms' molecules, and later of nearly all photon-sensing...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.07.002 Full text Aromaticity Consciousness Patterns Tryptophan +1

At the crossroad of the search for spontaneous radiation and the Orch OR consciousness theory.

Physics of Life Reviews September 1, 2022 Maaneli Derakhshani, Lajos Diósi, Matthias Laubenstein et al.

In this paper we perform a critical analysis of the Orch OR consciousness theory at the crossroad with the newest experimental results coming from the search for spontaneous radiation predicted by the simplest version of gravity-related dynamical collapse models. We conclude that Orch OR theory, when based on the simplest version of gravity-related dynamical collapse, is highly implausible in...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.05.004 Full text Collapse models Consciousness Germanium detector Orch or theory +1

Creativity, information, and consciousness: The information dynamics of thinking.

Physics of Life Reviews December 1, 2020 Geraint A Wiggins

This paper presents a theory of the basic operation of mind, Information Dynamics of Thinking, which is intended for computational implementation and thence empirical testing. It is based on the information theory of Shannon, and treats the mind/brain as an information processing organ that aims to be information-efficient, in that it predicts its world, so as to use information efficiently,...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2018.05.001 Full text Cognitive architecture Cognitive representation Computational creativity Information theory +2

Is temporo-spatial dynamics the "common currency" of brain and mind? In Quest of "Spatiotemporal Neuroscience".

Physics of Life Reviews July 1, 2020 Georg Northoff, Soren Wainio-Theberge, Kathinka Evers

Neuroscience has made considerable progress in unraveling the neural correlates of mental phenomena like self, consciousness, and perception. However, the "common currency" shared between neuronal and mental activity, brain and mind, remains yet unclear. In this article, we propose that the dynamics of time and space provides a "common currency" that connects neuronal and mental features. Time...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2019.05.002

Consciousness, biology and quantum hypotheses.

Physics of Life Reviews September 1, 2012 Bernard J. Baars, David B. Edelman

Natural phenomena are reducible to quantum events in principle, but quantum mechanics does not always provide the best level of analysis. The many-body problem, chaotic avalanches, materials properties, biological organisms, and weather systems are better addressed at higher levels. Animals are highly organized, goal-directed, adaptive, selectionist, information-preserving, functionally...

DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2012.07.001 Full text

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