What is it about?
Consciousness emerges from intricate neuronal interactions, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. By simulating a special nonlinear cell we find their synchronized bursting can significantly influence the brain's integrated-information a leading signature of consciousness. We then explore this using neuronal and physics methods, shedding light on how neural activity shapes our awareness.
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Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This work extends the recent discourse on consciousness in the brain. We believe the argument of where may be premature, with findings showing they are missing a fundamental cellular richness. This will impact neuroscience theories of consciousness, potentially reshaping treatments for cognitive issues (e.g., sleep, coma).
Perspectives
I hope you enjoy the manuscript. This was a great experience and one of my first projects as a post-doc, not only with a great local team, but I was also able to collaborate with some science heroes internationally! It also found an interesting result not expected: how much more integrated information can be achieved at a biologically more feasible low bursting rate. I also have placed all the code on github, so if you are interested take a look and reach out if you have any questions!
Brandon Munn
University of Sydney
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A thalamocortical substrate for integrated information via critical synchronous bursting, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2308670120.
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