How much consciousness is there in complexity?

Complexity measures, especially those from Integrated Information Theory, have been useful for distinguishing different states of consciousness (e.g., awake versus asleep) but have rarely been applied to studying the specific content of conscious experience. This paper argues that investigating how complexity relates to what we are conscious of is essential for understanding the role of information-theoretic measures in consciousness research. The authors outline how conscious content could be experimentally operationalized and how basic testable hypotheses can be formulated without relying on the formal apparatus of IIT. Such an approach could improve understanding of which aspects of consciousness complexity captures and facilitate comparisons between different theories of consciousness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The notion of complexity currently receives significant attention in neuroscience, mainly through the popularity of the Integrated Information Theory (IIT). It has proven successful in research centred on discriminating states of consciousness, while little theoretical and experimental effort was directed toward studying the content. In this paper, we argue that exploring the relationship between complexity and conscious content is necessary to understand the importance of information-theoretic measures for consciousness research properly. We outline how content could be experimentally operationalised and how rudimental testable hypotheses can be formulated without requiring IIT formalisms. This approach would not only allow for a better understanding of aspects of consciousness captured by complexity but could also facilitate comparison efforts for theories of consciousness.