What is a global state of consciousness?

Global states of consciousness, such as being awake, dreaming, or under anesthesia, are best understood as modulations of a creature's consciousness-related capacities rather than as experiences themselves. This account argues that global states specify which capacities for conscious experience are currently available, not which experiences are occurring. Because the standard search for neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) focuses on the neural basis of specific experiences, it cannot reveal the neural basis of these capacity-modulating global states. Therefore, advancing the science of consciousness requires moving beyond the current NCC framework to develop new approaches that target the neural mechanisms underlying global state changes.

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Abstract

The notion of a global state (or level) of consciousness is an increasingly important construct in the science of consciousness. However, exactly what a global state of consciousness is remains poorly understood. In this paper I offer an account of global states of consciousness as consciousness-related capacity modulations. On this view global states are not themselves phenomenal states – they are not occurring experiences. Rather, they are states that specify which of a creature’s overall consciousness-related capacities are currently online. Given that the search for the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), as it is currently conceived, is the search for the neural basis of occurrent experiences, the NCC framework is incapable of revealing the neural basis of global states. As such, a mature science of consciousness will need to move beyond the search for NCCs, as that project is currently conceived.