New research offers a way to identify consciousness in living and artificial systems.

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Science routinely puts forward theories, then batters them with data till only one is left standing. In the fledgling science of ...

A five-year “adversarial collaboration” of consciousness theorists led to a stagy showdown in front of an audience. It crowned no winners — but it can still claim progress. Science routinely puts ...

Consciousness has long been treated as philosophy’s most stubborn mystery, yet a growing body of neuroscience is now tying our inner life to specific, testable brain mechanisms. A leading MIT ...

This map of the human brain highlights areas in the prefrontal cortex (green) and the visual cortex (blue) that are thought to be associated with consciousness. The graphs track readings of ...

Some researchers believe consciousness is a byproduct of the constantly firing web of neurons in our heads. However, others believe something more theoretical must be involved to explain our complex ...

What does it mean to be conscious? People have been thinking and writing about this question for millennia. Yet many things about the conscious mind remain a mystery, including how to measure and ...

Michael Pollan's widely anticipated new book, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, brings his signature acumen and wit to one of science's essential mysteries. Along the way, he pursues ...

There is good reason to believe fish, amphibians, molluscs and insects are sentient, according to a new declaration signed by three dozen scientists. The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness ...