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 ...

A physicist has proposed a radical new theory of consciousness – and it could finally explain what happens when you die. Consciousness does not emerge from human brains, according to Professor Maria ...

It is therefore easy to think that consciousness evolved to benefit us as individuals. But we have argued that consciousness may have evolved to facilitate key social adaptive functions. Rather than ...

A mathematical analysis suggests that the notion of agency, which is a prerequisite for consciousness, cannot be purely ...

Why did the experience of consciousness evolve from our underlying brain physiology? Despite being a vibrant area of neuroscience, current research on consciousness is characterised by disagreement ...

A solid theory of human consciousness eludes us, which is why seemingly fringe ideas such as those that rely on quantum effects in the brain are still worth pursuing THE idea that quantum phenomena in ...

As AI—and the ethical debate surrounding it—accelerates, scientists argue that understanding consciousness is now more urgent than ever. They argue that explaining how consciousness arises—which could ...

What gives rise to human consciousness? Are some parts of the brain more important than others? Scientists began tackling these questions in more depth about 35 years ago. Researchers have made ...

Could artificial intelligence (AI) become conscious? What used to be a philosophical “thought experiment” is now a real-world conundrum. AI’s explosive development, especially the Large Language ...