Project description
A neurodynamical look into consciousness
In the area of psychology and neuroscience, consciousness is an important field of research. The EU-funded CONSCIOUS project will explore how conscious experiences depend on the brain. To investigate how particular conscious experiences can be understood as arising from the brain’s ‘best guesses’, the project will develop novel machine-learning models. Neuroimaging will be used to test the idea that different kinds of neurally encoded predictions can account for different kinds of perceptual experience. By exploring correlations between patterns of brain activity and aspects of consciousness, as well as developing new theories about emergence and predictive processing, CONSCIOUS will examine how the globally unified character of conscious experiences emerges from neural dynamics.
Objective
How do conscious experiences depend on the brain? The CONSCIOUS project aims to make new progress on this oldest of questions by progressing from establishing correlations between patterns of brain activity and aspects of consciousness, towards developing and testing explanations in terms of neural mechanisms. By following this strategy, I believe the problem of consciousness will be dissolved rather than outright solved – similar to what happened with the study of life, decades ago.
One branch of CONSCIOUS will explore what it is like to be conscious ‘at all’. Here, I will make use of the concept of ‘emergence’ – the sense in which a system’s whole can seem to be more than the sum of its parts. I will test the idea that the globally unified character of conscious experiences emerges from neural dynamics, in a similar way to how a flock of birds emerges from the trajectories of the individual birds that make it up. This will involve developing new theoretically principled and practically applicable measures of emergence, and applying them to neurophysiological data reflecting different global states of consciousness.
A second branch will explore the nature of specific conscious perceptions, appealing to the influential idea of the brain as a ‘prediction machine’. Here, I will develop novel machine learning models to investigate how particular conscious experiences can be understood as arising from the brain’s ‘best guesses’ of the causes of its sensory inputs. I will use combinations of behavioural experiments and neuroimaging to test the idea that different kinds of neurally-encoded predictions can account for different kinds of perceptual experience.
CONSCIOUS is thoroughly multidisciplinary, bridging cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, statistical physics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. It is only through such an approach that it is possible to make substantial progress towards a satisfying scientific account of conscious experience.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
BN1 9RH BRIGHTON
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.