Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 6B, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Universitetsbyen 3, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
Center for Research in Cognition & Neurosciences, Université Libre De Bruxelles, 50 avenue F.D. Roosevelt CP191, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2024 Jan;156:105480. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105480. Epub 2023 Nov 24.
We propose a new approach to consciousness science that instead of comparing complex theoretical positions deconstructs existing theories, takes their central assumptions while disregarding their auxiliary hypotheses, and focuses its investigations on the main constructs that these central assumptions rely on (like global workspace, recurrent processing, metarepresentation). Studying how these main constructs are anchored in lower-level constructs characterizing underlying neural processing will not just offer an alternative to theory comparisons but will also take us one step closer to empirical resolutions. Moreover, exploring the compatibility and possible combinations of the lower-level constructs will allow for new theoretical syntheses. This construct-first approach will improve our ability to understand the commitments of existing theories and pave the way for moving beyond them.
我们提出了一种新的意识科学研究方法，该方法不是比较复杂的理论立场，而是解构现有的理论，保留其核心假设，而忽略其辅助假设，并将研究重点放在这些核心假设所依赖的主要结构上（如全局工作空间、递归处理、元表示）。研究这些主要结构如何在底层结构中得到体现，这些底层结构可以描述潜在的神经处理过程，这不仅将为理论比较提供替代方案，而且还将使我们更接近经验性的解决方案。此外，探索底层结构的兼容性和可能的组合将允许进行新的理论综合。这种先构建的方法将提高我们理解现有理论的能力，并为超越这些理论铺平道路。
