Measuring consciousness: relating behavioural and neurophysiological approaches

• Published in: Trends in cognitive sciences Vol. 12; no. 8; pp. 314 - 321
• Main Authors: Seth, Anil K, Dienes, Zoltán, Cleeremans, Axel, Overgaard, Morten, Pessoa, Luiz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - physiology; Cognition. Intelligence; Consciousness; Electroencephalography; Electrophysiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Miscellaneous; Neurology; Neuropsychology - methods; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social Behavior; Human; Consciousness; Behavioral analysis; Central nervous system; Electrophysiology; Cognition; Electroencephalography; Review; Measurement method; Event evoked potential; Encephalon
• ISSN: 1364-6613; 1879-307X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.04.008

The resurgent science of consciousness has been accompanied by a recent emphasis on the problem of measurement. Having dependable measures of consciousness is essential both for mapping experimental evidence to theory and for designing perspicuous experiments. Here, we review a series of behavioural and brain-based measures, assessing their ability to track graded consciousness and clarifying how they relate to each other by showing what theories are presupposed by each. We identify possible and actual conflicts among measures that can stimulate new experiments, and we conclude that measures must prove themselves by iteratively building knowledge in the context of theoretical frameworks. Advances in measuring consciousness have implications for basic cognitive neuroscience, for comparative studies of consciousness and for clinical applications.