Trends Cogn Sci
August 20, 2020
Jonathan Birch, Alexandra K. Schnell, Nicola S. Clayton
394 citations
A multidimensional framework is proposed for understanding how consciousness varies across animal species. Rather than ranking species on a single scale of consciousness, the framework identifies five key dimensions: perceptual richness, evaluative richness, integration at a time, integration across time, and self-consciousness. For each dimension, existing experiments are reviewed and future experiments suggested. By assessing a species against each dimension, a distinctive consciousness profile can be constructed, indicating that no species is simply more or less conscious than another.
Trends Cogn Sci
February 3, 2023
Manesh Girn, Fernando E. Rosas, Richard E. Daws et al.
76 citations
Psychedelics reduce the functional segregation of large-scale brain networks, but findings have been largely inconsistent. A complexity-science perspective that emphasizes the distributed, interactional, and dynamic nature of brain function may explain these inconsistencies. The authors propose that psychedelics induce a mode of brain function that is more dynamically flexible, diverse, integrated, and tuned for information sharing, consistent with greater criticality. This 'meta' perspective can unify past findings and guide intuitions toward compelling mechanistic models.
Trends Cogn Sci
July 9, 2026
The text clarifies that there are two necessary conditions for consciousness. It does not provide further detail on what those conditions are, nor does it present empirical data or a specific argument beyond this clarification.
Trends Cogn Sci
September 20, 2025
Most knowledge about the neural basis of consciousness comes from large-scale brain activity patterns measured with fMRI or M/EEG, while circuit-level mechanisms—which likely underlie those larger patterns—remain poorly understood, especially in humans. This review examines circuit-level theories such as apical amplification theory and dendritic integration theory, and argues that these can now be tested in humans using advanced methods. Testing such theories would help translate consciousness research into clinical practice and bridge circuit-level and network-level accounts of consciousness.
Trends Cogn Sci
November 15, 2024
Consciousness is examined through its qualitative, subjective aspects, focusing on how personal experience shapes awareness. The work explores the nature of conscious experience, arguing that understanding its qualitative character is essential for a complete account of the mind. It discusses philosophical perspectives on qualia and the first-person perspective, emphasizing that subjective experience cannot be fully captured by third-person scientific descriptions alone. The argument suggests that a comprehensive understanding of consciousness must integrate both subjective and objective approaches.
Trends Cogn Sci
January 14, 2010
Dreaming arises from the coordinated activity of brain regions that support memory, emotion, and self-awareness, with REM sleep providing a neurophysiological scaffolding for vivid dream experiences. The authors trace how phenomenological features of dreams—such as narrative structure and emotional intensity—map onto underlying neural circuits, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. They argue that dreaming is not a random byproduct but a functionally integrated state that reflects the brain's ongoing processing of experience.