The field of consciousness science has grown exponentially over the past five years, following three decades of foundational work by a small group of researchers. In June 2023, a three-day workshop funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation convened experts to assess the current state of the field and identify promising future research directions. The resulting Special Focus includes empirical and theoretical contributions from invited speakers. The author advocates for stronger connections between consciousness science and other cognitive neuroscience subdisciplines, arguing that modern neuroscience must address the challenge of studying subjective experiences.
The assumption that a single neurobiological account will explain all types of conscious awareness is challenged by evidence that neural activity related to conscious visual perception varies in location, timing, and information flow depending on external and internal factors. This suggests the search for generic neural correlates of consciousness may not be fruitful. A more pluralistic approach is needed, and a new framework called joint determinant theory (JDT) is proposed. JDT may accommodate different brain circuit mechanisms for varied conscious contents such as percepts, wills, memories, emotions, and thoughts, as well as their integrated experience.