Global workspace theory of consciousness: toward a cognitive neuroscience of human experience - PubMed (original) (raw)
Review
Global workspace theory of consciousness: toward a cognitive neuroscience of human experience
Bernard J Baars. Prog Brain Res. 2005.
Abstract
Global workspace (GW) theory emerged from the cognitive architecture tradition in cognitive science. Newell and co-workers were the first to show the utility of a GW or "blackboard" architecture in a distributed set of knowledge sources, which could cooperatively solve problems that no single constituent could solve alone. The empirical connection with conscious cognition was made by Baars (1988, 2002). GW theory generates explicit predictions for conscious aspects of perception, emotion, motivation, learning, working memory, voluntary control, and self systems in the brain. It has similarities to biological theories such as Neural Darwinism and dynamical theories of brain functioning. Functional brain imaging now shows that conscious cognition is distinctively associated with wide spread of cortical activity, notably toward frontoparietal and medial temporal regions. Unconscious comparison conditions tend to activate only local regions, such as visual projection areas. Frontoparietal hypometabolism is also implicated in unconscious states, including deep sleep, coma, vegetative states, epileptic loss of consciousness, and general anesthesia. These findings are consistent with the GW hypothesis, which is now favored by a number of scientists and philosophers.
Similar articles
- An architectural model of conscious and unconscious brain functions: Global Workspace Theory and IDA.
Baars BJ, Franklin S. Baars BJ, et al. Neural Netw. 2007 Nov;20(9):955-61. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2007.09.013. Epub 2007 Sep 18. Neural Netw. 2007. PMID: 17998071 - A software agent model of consciousness.
Franklin S, Graesser A. Franklin S, et al. Conscious Cogn. 1999 Sep;8(3):285-301. doi: 10.1006/ccog.1999.0391. Conscious Cogn. 1999. PMID: 10487784 - Consciousness: converging insights from connectionist modeling and neuroscience.
Maia TV, Cleeremans A. Maia TV, et al. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005 Aug;9(8):397-404. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.06.016. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005. PMID: 16005677 Review. - An adaptive workspace hypothesis about the neural correlates of consciousness: insights from neuroscience and meditation studies.
Raffone A, Srinivasan N. Raffone A, et al. Prog Brain Res. 2009;176:161-80. doi: 10.1016/S0079-6123(09)17620-3. Prog Brain Res. 2009. PMID: 19733756 - Consciousness, biology and quantum hypotheses.
Baars BJ, Edelman DB. Baars BJ, et al. Phys Life Rev. 2012 Sep;9(3):285-94. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2012.07.001. Epub 2012 Jul 10. Phys Life Rev. 2012. PMID: 22925839 Review.
Cited by
- What is it like to be a bot? The world according to GPT-4.
Lloyd D. Lloyd D. Front Psychol. 2024 Aug 7;15:1292675. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1292675. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 39176045 Free PMC article. - Development of emergent processes and threshold of consciousness with levels of processing.
Watanabe R, Moriguchi Y. Watanabe R, et al. Front Psychol. 2024 Jul 10;15:1337589. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1337589. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 39077199 Free PMC article. - Artificial intelligence, human cognition, and conscious supremacy.
Mogi K. Mogi K. Front Psychol. 2024 May 13;15:1364714. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1364714. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 38807956 Free PMC article. - Laying the foundations for a theory of consciousness: the significance of critical brain dynamics for the formation of conscious states.
Keppler J. Keppler J. Front Hum Neurosci. 2024 Apr 26;18:1379191. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1379191. eCollection 2024. Front Hum Neurosci. 2024. PMID: 38736531 Free PMC article. - The hidden structure of consciousness.
Forti B. Forti B. Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 8;15:1344033. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1344033. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 38650907 Free PMC article.