Advanced tractography results agree with communication between Global Workspace and Integrated Information consciousness areas

Abstract

The study of consciousness is gaining importance in both neuroscience and the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We show here that an advanced White Matter (WM) tractography method, termed gridography, can explore the potential integration of two prominent theories of consciousness: Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and Integrated Information Theory (IIT). Using gridography on high-resolution diffusion MRI data from the Human Connectome Project, we demonstrate that gridography can accurately map WM connections between the anterior brain regions associated with GWT and posterior regions linked to IIT. We evaluate how experimental gridography data aligns with the physiological structures implicated in consciousness by analyzing: i. the current status of consciousness-related brain locations; ii. structures necessary for transmitting consciousness-related information; iii. characteristics necessary for tractography to identify consciousness-related WM connections. Our findings suggest that these connections, particularly those of the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (SLF), support a unified model of consciousness integrating aspects of both the primarily epistemic GWT and the primarily ontic IIT. This study proposes a novel framework that could reconcile existing theoretical divisions between GWT and IIT.