A mathematical analysis suggests that the notion of agency, which is a prerequisite for consciousness, cannot be purely ...

A physicist has proposed a radical new theory of consciousness – and it could finally explain what happens when you die. Consciousness does not emerge from human brains, according to Professor Maria ...

It is therefore easy to think that consciousness evolved to benefit us as individuals. But we have argued that consciousness may have evolved to facilitate key social adaptive functions. Rather than ...

Michael Pollan's widely anticipated new book, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, brings his signature acumen and wit to one of science's essential mysteries. Along the way, he pursues ...

As AI—and the ethical debate surrounding it—accelerates, scientists argue that understanding consciousness is now more urgent than ever. They argue that explaining how consciousness arises—which could ...

Why did the experience of consciousness evolve from our underlying brain physiology? Despite being a vibrant area of neuroscience, current research on consciousness is characterised by disagreement ...

Artificial intelligence can process information with remarkable sophistication, but can it ever possess consciousness?

THE idea that quantum phenomena in the brain can explain consciousness has persisted for decades on the fringes of mainstream research. There is something appealing about an attempt to explain ...