Consciousness or pseudo-consciousness? A clash of two paradigms

Giulio Tononi; Larissa Albantakis; Leonardo Barbosa; Melanie Boly; Chiara Cirelli; Renzo Comolatti; Francesco Ellia; Graham Findlay; Adenauer Girardi Casali; Matteo Grasso; Andrew M. Haun; Jeremiah Hendren; Erik Hoel; Christof Koch; Alexander Maier; William Marshall; Marcello Massimini; William G.P. Mayner; Masafumi Oizumi; Joanna Szczotka; Naotsugu Tsuchiya; Alireza Zaeemzadeh

doi:10.1038/s41593-025-01880-y

Consciousness or pseudo-consciousness? A clash of two paradigms

Giulio Tononi, Larissa Albantakis, Leonardo Barbosa, Melanie Boly, Chiara Cirelli, Renzo Comolatti, Francesco Ellia, Graham Findlay, Adenauer Girardi Casali, Matteo Grasso, Andrew M. Haun, Jeremiah Hendren, Erik Hoel, Christof Koch, Alexander Maier, William Marshall, Marcello Massimini, William G.P. Mayner, Masafumi Oizumi, Joanna SzczotkaNaotsugu Tsuchiya, Alireza Zaeemzadeh

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment / Debate › Other › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Integrated information theory (IIT) starts from consciousness, which is subjective, and accounts for its presence and quality in objective, testable terms. Attempts to label as ‘pseudoscientific’ a theory distinguished by decades of conceptual, mathematical, and empirical developments expose a crisis in the dominant computational-functionalist paradigm, which is challenged by IIT’s consciousness-first paradigm.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	694-702
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Neuroscience
Volume	28
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01880-y
Publication status	Published - Apr 2025

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Tononi, G., Albantakis, L., Barbosa, L., Boly, M., Cirelli, C., Comolatti, R., Ellia, F., Findlay, G., Casali, A. G., Grasso, M., Haun, A. M., Hendren, J., Hoel, E., Koch, C., Maier, A., Marshall, W., Massimini, M., Mayner, W. G. P., Oizumi, M., ... Zaeemzadeh, A. (2025). Consciousness or pseudo-consciousness? A clash of two paradigms. Nature Neuroscience, 28(4), 694-702. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01880-y

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title = "Consciousness or pseudo-consciousness? A clash of two paradigms",

abstract = "Integrated information theory (IIT) starts from consciousness, which is subjective, and accounts for its presence and quality in objective, testable terms. Attempts to label as {\textquoteleft}pseudoscientific{\textquoteright} a theory distinguished by decades of conceptual, mathematical, and empirical developments expose a crisis in the dominant computational-functionalist paradigm, which is challenged by IIT{\textquoteright}s consciousness-first paradigm.",

author = "Giulio Tononi and Larissa Albantakis and Leonardo Barbosa and Melanie Boly and Chiara Cirelli and Renzo Comolatti and Francesco Ellia and Graham Findlay and Casali, {Adenauer Girardi} and Matteo Grasso and Haun, {Andrew M.} and Jeremiah Hendren and Erik Hoel and Christof Koch and Alexander Maier and William Marshall and Marcello Massimini and Mayner, {William G.P.} and Masafumi Oizumi and Joanna Szczotka and Naotsugu Tsuchiya and Alireza Zaeemzadeh",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Springer Nature America, Inc. 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1038/s41593-025-01880-y",

language = "English",

volume = "28",

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Tononi, G, Albantakis, L, Barbosa, L, Boly, M, Cirelli, C, Comolatti, R, Ellia, F, Findlay, G, Casali, AG, Grasso, M, Haun, AM, Hendren, J, Hoel, E, Koch, C, Maier, A, Marshall, W, Massimini, M, Mayner, WGP, Oizumi, M, Szczotka, J, Tsuchiya, N & Zaeemzadeh, A 2025, 'Consciousness or pseudo-consciousness? A clash of two paradigms', Nature Neuroscience, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 694-702. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01880-y

TY - JOUR

T1 - Consciousness or pseudo-consciousness? A clash of two paradigms

AU - Tononi, Giulio

AU - Albantakis, Larissa

AU - Barbosa, Leonardo

AU - Boly, Melanie

AU - Cirelli, Chiara

AU - Comolatti, Renzo

AU - Ellia, Francesco

AU - Findlay, Graham

AU - Casali, Adenauer Girardi

AU - Grasso, Matteo

AU - Haun, Andrew M.

AU - Hendren, Jeremiah

AU - Hoel, Erik

AU - Koch, Christof

AU - Maier, Alexander

AU - Marshall, William

AU - Massimini, Marcello

AU - Mayner, William G.P.

AU - Oizumi, Masafumi

AU - Szczotka, Joanna

AU - Tsuchiya, Naotsugu

AU - Zaeemzadeh, Alireza

PY - 2025/4

Y1 - 2025/4

N2 - Integrated information theory (IIT) starts from consciousness, which is subjective, and accounts for its presence and quality in objective, testable terms. Attempts to label as ‘pseudoscientific’ a theory distinguished by decades of conceptual, mathematical, and empirical developments expose a crisis in the dominant computational-functionalist paradigm, which is challenged by IIT’s consciousness-first paradigm.

AB - Integrated information theory (IIT) starts from consciousness, which is subjective, and accounts for its presence and quality in objective, testable terms. Attempts to label as ‘pseudoscientific’ a theory distinguished by decades of conceptual, mathematical, and empirical developments expose a crisis in the dominant computational-functionalist paradigm, which is challenged by IIT’s consciousness-first paradigm.

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U2 - 10.1038/s41593-025-01880-y

DO - 10.1038/s41593-025-01880-y

M3 - Comment / Debate

C2 - 40065188

AN - SCOPUS:105000450696

SN - 1097-6256

VL - 28

SP - 694

EP - 702

JO - Nature Neuroscience

JF - Nature Neuroscience

IS - 4

ER -

Consciousness or pseudo-consciousness? A clash of two paradigms

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