Long-timescale dynamics shape visual conscious awareness https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.748970v1
Zefan Zheng
@zefanzheng.bsky.social
PhD researcher in consciousness at max Planck institute for empirical aesthetics.
A bottom-up academic Initiative that makes a difference to many🙏
Mediterranean Society for Consciousness Science@mesec-community.bsky.social · 2w agoHow can students and postdocs shape their field of research? We're excited to share our TiCS piece, showcasing MESEC as a case study for exactly this question! So grateful for our wonderful community of MESECeers 🤗 doi.org/10.1016/j.ti... *Free access* link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1njPQ4sIRv...
The journal version is out! www.cell.com/trends-open/... AI is turning machine consciousness into a societal issue. Biological Naturalism (BN), the idea that only biological systems can be conscious, is gaining traction. We argue: either BN is untestable, or it is compatible with functionalism.
What biology can and cannot tell us about conscious AI
Progress in artificial intelligence is turning machine consciousness from a philosophical curiosity into a societal issue, and has led to criticism of the widespread computational functionalist framew...
cell.com
Adrien Doerig@adriendoerig.bsky.social · 4mo ago1/n New preprint: What biology can, and cannot, tell us about conscious AI arxiv.org/abs/2606.02121 With @ulysse-klatzmann.bsky.social
I didn't post much in the past months, but I have some pleasant updates! 1) I joined ZEN University as a postdoc. 2) I became a PI (second period) in Qualia Structure! 3) I obtained an early-career scientist grant (WAKATE); 4) I started a Canon Fellowship at Ritsumeikan University!
"Loops all the way up - recurrency as an implementation-first primitive for consciousness." New in Phys Life Rev by @zefanzheng.bsky.social @robertchisciure.bsky.social & others .... well worth a read, & open for peer commentary www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🚨 new paper alert Most consciousness theories are just a specific type of recurrent theory, from the implementation perspective. Out in Physics of Life Reviews: doi.org/10.1016/j.pl... Email me for interests in contributing commentaries (zefan.zheng@rub.de)!!! A 🧵
Redirecting
doi.org
Published version: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... OSF: osf.io/preprints/ps... Kudos to @zefanzheng.bsky.social, @robertchisciure.bsky.social, @annaeiserbeck.bsky.social, @jaanaru.bsky.social, @thomasandrillon.bsky.social, @bechir-jarraya.bsky.social, + others ✨💪
Loops all the way up: Recurrency as an implementation-first primitive for consciousness
Consciousness science is fragmented, and empirical investigations are largely confined within the framework of each theory of consciousness (ToC). Pro…
sciencedirect.com
Finally published: “Loops all the way up: Recurrency as an implementation-first primitive for consciousness” There are 200+ theories of consciousness, mostly talking past each other. Despite their differences, most give central stage to one key notion: Recurrence 🧠 🔁
well on time for my bi-yearly post I'm sharing the final version of this very cool work we started with @cjungerius.bsky.social @smfleming.bsky.social @svangaal.bsky.social @fahrenfort.bsky.social in 2021, when I was young and full of hope. Now out in @natcomms.nature.com 1/11
The act of detecting a stimulus contaminates measures of conscious experience with decision biases - Nature Communications
A central challenge in consciousness research is determining whether people truly experience a stimulus. Here, the authors show that context biases traditional detection measures, whereas continuous r...
nature.com
I’m very proud that our symposium on #Aphantasia and Consciousness at #ASSC29 was a big success! Aphantasia research has undergone a decade of scientific study. This symposium aimed to address a key question: what does aphantasia reveal about unique aspects of human consciousness?
First media coverage I ever received for a paper I wrote! It was a huge surprise and honour to be interviewed by @science.org
Science Magazine@science.org · 3mo agoDo animals perceive time differently from humans? Science chats with @singhal.bsky.social—a researcher whose team is using “timescapes” to understand how nonhumans experience the world. https://scim.ag/4xFs4wM
The true answer to the hard problem of consciousness might be as hard for us to comprehend as visualizing a 7 dimensional space in our head. It’s simply impossible given our cognitive arsenal.
Consciousness research advances faster when ideas, data, and methods are shared openly. Consciousness Commons brings early-career researchers together to build collaborative, reproducible projects using open consciousness datasets. Science as a commons.
Imagine walking into a room where neuroscientists, philosophers, coders, and cognitive scientists all work on the same consciousness dataset together. That’s the spirit of Consciousness Commons. Collaborative science > siloed science. ASSC 2026 satellite event • Santiago 🇨🇱
Open datasets are changing consciousness science. But data alone isn’t enough — we also need collaborative workflows, preregistration, and interdisciplinary teams. Consciousness Commons is designed around exactly that idea.
Just found a goldmine of 38 "hidden" videos on our YouTube channel! 🤯 Turns out they're my 2022 lectures on the neural basis of consciousness (~20 mins each). Finally set them to public—enjoy the deep dive! 🧠✨ www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
2022 Neural Basis of Consciousness - YouTube
This is the lectures that I gave in 2022 on the neural basis of consciousness.
youtube.com
Best evidence yet that LLMs can match human capabilities in doing science.
Simon Fisher@profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 5mo ago“Researchers looked at two high-profile AI agent tools developed to help computer scientists in the field of machine learning. Both systems engaged in acts that violate research integrity, including making up data & p-hacking: running an experiment multiple times but only reporting best outcome.” 🧪
New paper from the lab! "Plasticity and language in the anaesthetized human hippocampus" www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Plasticity and language in the anaesthetized human hippocampus - Nature
In the hippocampus, complex processing of sensory stimuli occurs even in the unconscious state.
nature.com
Do we all see the same red? Or feel joy and sadness alike? Mapping how our inner experiences relate to one another could finally reveal how physical processes in the brain give rise to consciousness Very readable! Thanks, George! @gmusser www.newscientist.com/article/2519...
The simple questions cracking the hard problem of consciousness
Do we all see the same red? Or feel joy and sadness alike? Mapping how our inner experiences relate to one another could finally reveal how physical processes in the brain give rise to consciousness
newscientist.com
Applications for Consciousness Commons close on Monday, April 13 @ midnight (PST) If you're an early-career researcher and been thinking about it, this is the moment! Open data. Free compute. A preregistered study. $25K in funding up for grabs. consciousness-commons.github.io/cc-assc-2026/
Consciousness Commons participants work with open, reusable datasets -- including direct training on the Cogitate dataset, one of the most rigorously FAIR resources in consciousness research. ➕ free computation through brainlife.io
brainlife.io
Something is emerging in Santiago this July. A new kind of scientific gathering. Open data. Interdisciplinary teams. A shared question that's been challenging researchers for decades. Introducing Consciousness Commons: A satellite workshop for early-career researchers @assc2026.bsky.social #ASSC29
And applications are officially OPEN. Deadline to apply to join us is --- April 13 🔸Work with open consciousness datasets 🔸Build a preregistered research project with an interdisciplinary team 🔸Compete for $25,000 in seed funding to carry it forward consciousness-commons.github.io/cc-assc-2026/
You leave with a fully preregistered study. And a shot at $25K in seed funding.
You bring the question. We help you build the study. Applications close April 13. Space is limited. 🔗 consciousness-commons.github.io/cc-assc-2026/
Just out! Expectations modulate stimulus-evoked recurrent, but not feedforward, processing, and this is attention-dependent. NMDA-dependent feedback specifically supports perceptual integration (illusory contours), rather than mediating expectations (base rate). www.jneurosci.org/content/46/1...
Effects of Expectation, Attention, and NMDA Receptor Blockade on Feedforward and Feedback Processing
Perception is increasingly viewed as an inferential process wherein sensory inputs are integrated with prior expectations. We employed time-resolved decoding on electroencephalography (EEG) data ( n ...
jneurosci.org
Apply by April 13. consciousness-commons.github.io/cc-assc-2026 #ASSC29 #ConsciousnessScience #OpenScience #consci