Gridography tractography reveals communication between key areas from global workspace and integrated information theories of consciousness.

Abstract

The study of consciousness is gaining importance in both neuroscience and the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We show here that an advanced White Matter (WM) tractography method, termed gridography, can explore the potential integration of two prominent theories of consciousness: Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and Integrated Information Theory (IIT). Using gridography on high-resolution diffusion MRI data from the Human Connectome Project, we demonstrate that gridography obtains WM connections between the anterior brain regions associated with GWT and posterior regions linked to IIT in a form which agrees with the Epiontic Consciousness Theory (ECT), which is an intermediary theory between GWT and IIT. We evaluate how experimental gridography data aligns with the physiological structures implicated in consciousness by analyzing: (i) Information characteristics of consciousness theories; (ii) Improvement of diffusion MRI tractography by use of gridography; (iii) Expected gridography results based on consciousness theory. Our findings suggest that these connections, particularly those of the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (SLF), support a ECT unified model of consciousness integrating aspects of both the primarily epistemic GWT and the primarily ontic IIT. This study proposes a novel framework that could reconcile existing theoretical divisions between GWT and IIT through the use of the ECT approach.