An adversarial collaboration protocol for testing contrasting predictions of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theory

TLDR

Conscious experience and brain activity have long fascinated scientists, leading to multiple theories that have evolved largely independently. The study aims to test contrasting predictions of the Global Neuronal Workspace and Integrated Information Theory through a preregistered adversarial collaboration, seeking decisive evidence on visual consciousness and a new model of open science. Six independent laboratories will conduct the experiments using fMRI, M‑EEG, and iEEG, with built‑in cross‑lab and within‑dataset replications. The results are expected to decisively support or refute the two theories and clarify the neural signatures of conscious visual perception.

Abstract

The relationship between conscious experience and brain activity has intrigued scientists and philosophers for centuries. In the last decades, several theories have suggested different accounts for these relationships. These theories have developed in parallel, with little to no cross-talk among them. To advance research on consciousness, we established an adversarial collaboration between proponents of two of the major theories in the field, Global Neuronal Workspace and Integrated Information Theory. Together, we devised and preregistered two experiments that test contrasting predictions of these theories concerning the location and timing of correlates of visual consciousness, which have been endorsed by the theories’ proponents. Predicted outcomes should either support, refute, or challenge these theories. Six theory-impartial laboratories will follow the study protocol specified here, using three complementary methods: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Magneto-Electroencephalography (M-EEG), and intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG). The study protocol will include built-in replications, both between labs and within datasets. Through this ambitious undertaking, we hope to provide decisive evidence in favor or against the two theories and clarify the footprints of conscious visual perception in the human brain, while also providing an innovative model of large-scale, collaborative, and open science practice.