A paper co-authored by Dr. Francesco Ellia, who participated in the Summer School 2024, and Representative Dr. Tsuchiya has been published in the Neuroscience of Consciousness. The full text is available here. Please take a moment to read it.

Paper Information

Authors： Francesco Ellia and Naotsugu Tsuchiya

Title：Beyond accommodation: on the structural turn in computational functionalist theories of consciousness

Journal： Neuroscience of Consciousness, Volume 2025, Issue 1, 2025, niaf014

DOI：https://doi.org/10.1093/nc/niaf014

Abstract:

 This commentary engages with recent work on computational functionalist theories of consciousness through a structural lens. We address three key aspects: the role of subjective experience in theory building, the hypothesis regarding local lateral connectivity in sensory areas, and the implications of “silent units” for consciousness. We argue that while their structural turn is welcome, many of their insights were previously predicted by Integrated Information Theory. We question the coherence of these claims within the functionalist paradigm and emphasize the importance of distinguishing genuine predictions from post-hoc accommodations in consciousness science.