Consciousness

A mysterious electromagnetic mechanism may be more important than the firing of neurons in our brain to explain our awareness

A Stanford anesthesiologist deconstructs the component parts of what it means to undergo a psychedelic trip

Despite great progress, we lack even the beginning of an explanation of how the brain produces our inner world of colors, sounds, smells and tastes. A thought experiment with “pain-pleasure” zombies illustrates that the mystery is deeper than we thought

A study of mice starts to unravel how the brain gets tricked by a particular optical illusion

A declaration signed by dozens of scientists says there is “a realistic possibility” for elements of consciousness in reptiles, insects and mollusks

Is consciousness nothing more than an illusion? That idea defined the work of Daniel Dennett (1942–2024)

A philosopher who lived centuries before artificial intelligence might be able to help us understand the field's personhood questions

An infant’s aha! moment may hold secrets to the origins of agency

A new technique helps anesthesiologists track changes in states of consciousness

Nell Greenfieldboyce discusses her new book Transient and Strange, the intimacy of the essays and the science that inspired them.

We can account for the evolution of consciousness only if we crack the philosophy, as well as the physics, of the brain

A theory called panpsychism proposes that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality