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consciousness

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Illustration of a giant human head, with small openings cut into the front and back. Light shines out of these openings and tiny people on ladders peer into them.
consciousness

What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved

By Elizabeth Finkel
August 24, 2023
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A five-year “adversarial collaboration” of consciousness theorists led to a stagy showdown in front of an audience. It crowned no winners — but it can still claim progress.

A representation of a human head examining its experiences.
The Joy of Why

What Is the Nature of Consciousness?

By Steven Strogatz
May 31, 2023
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Consciousness, our experience of being in the world, is one of the mind’s greatest mysteries, but as the neuroscientist Anil Seth explains to Steven Strogatz, research is making progress in understanding this elusive phenomenon.

The face of a sleeping person surrounded by images of the person running and flying in dreams, with other images of scientists monitoring the process.
The Joy of Why

Why and How Do We Dream?

By Steven Strogatz
August 24, 2022
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Dreams are subjective, but there are ways to peer into the minds of people while they are dreaming. Steven Strogatz speaks with sleep researcher Antonio Zadra about how new experimental methods have changed our understanding of dreams.

A man sits at a table in the middle of a wood-paneled library, perusing a large book.
Q&A

Pondering the Bits That Build Space-Time and Brains

By Charlie Wood
April 20, 2022
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Vijay Balasubramanian investigates whether the fabric of the universe might be built from information, and what it means that physicists can even ask such a question.

Neuroscientist Anil Seth in his darkened laboratory at the University of Sussex.
Q&A

Anil Seth Finds Consciousness in Life’s Push Against Entropy

By Dan Falk
September 30, 2021
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How does consciousness arise in mere flesh and blood? To the neuroscientist Anil Seth, our organic bodies are the key to the experience.

Q&A

Curious About Consciousness? Ask the Self-Aware Machines

By John Pavlus
July 11, 2019
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Consciousness is a famously hard problem, so Hod Lipson is starting from the basics: with self-aware robots that can help us understand how we think.

Art for "Neuroscience Readies for a Showdown Over Consciousness Ideas"
neuroscience

Neuroscience Readies for a Showdown Over Consciousness Ideas

By Philip Ball
March 6, 2019
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To make headway on the mystery of consciousness, some researchers are trying a rigorous new way to test competing theories.

Art for "A ‘Self-Aware’ Fish Raises Doubts About a Cognitive Test"
neuroscience

A ‘Self-Aware’ Fish Raises Doubts About a Cognitive Test

By Elizabeth Preston
December 12, 2018
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A report that a fish can pass the “mirror test” for self-awareness reignites debates about how to define and measure that elusive quality.

Illustration for "Overtaxed Working Memory Knocks the Brain out of Sync"
neuroscience

Overtaxed Working Memory Knocks the Brain Out of Sync

By Jordana Cepelewicz
June 6, 2018
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Researchers find that when working memory gets overburdened, dialogue between three brain regions breaks down. The discovery provides new support for a larger concept about how the brain works.


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