The Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness

Brains, Minds and Machines Seminar Series The Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness Speaker: Dr. Christof Koch, Chief Scientific Officer, Allen Institute for Brain Science Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2014 Location: Singleton Auditorium, 46-3002 Abstract: The science of consciousness has made great strides by focusing on the behavioral and neuronal correlates of experience. However, such correlates are not enough if we are to understand even basic facts, for example, why the cerebral cortex gives rise to consciousness but the cerebellum does not, though it has even more neurons and appears to be just as complicated. Moreover, correlates are of little help in many instances where we would like to know if consciousness is present: patients with a few remaining islands of functioning cortex, pre-term infants, non-mammalian species, and machines that are rapidly outperforming people at driving, recognizing faces and objects, and answering difficult questions. To address these issue