PART II

Empirical Validation of IIT

(in development)

To validate the framework of integrated information theory (IIT) scientifically, the theory turns to the human brain—the one indisputable substrate of consciousness. The theory offers both explanations of well-established facts about the brain and predictions that can be empirically tested.

This part of the IIT Wiki will be gradually developed in the coming years. For the time being, the best overview is found in the Explanations and Predictions sections from Tononi, G., Boly, M., Massimini, M., & Koch, C. (2016). Integrated information theory: from consciousness to its physical substrate. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 450–461.

Below is a literature list of studies and reviews that lend empirical support to the IIT framework.

Neuroscientific applications and tests of IIT (literature list)

Boly, M., Smith, R., Vigueras Borrego, G., Pozuelos, J. P., Allaudin, T., Malinowski, P., & Tononi, G. (2024). Neural correlates of pure presence. bioRxiv, 2024-04.
Cogitate Consortium, Ferrante, O., Gorska-Klimowska, U., Henin, S., Hirschhorn, R., Khalaf, A., ... & Melloni, L. (2023). An adversarial collaboration to critically evaluate theories of consciousness. BioRxiv, 2023-06.
Mayner, W. G., Marshall, W., Billeh, Y. N., Gandhi, S. R., Caldejon, S., Cho, A., ... & Arkhipov, A. (2022). Measuring stimulus-evoked neurophysiological differentiation in distinct populations of neurons in mouse visual cortex. Eneuro, 9(1).
Haun, A. M., Oizumi, M., Kovach, C. K., Kawasaki, H., Oya, H., Howard, M. A., ... & Tsuchiya, N. (2017). Conscious perception as integrated information patterns in human electrocorticography. Eneuro, 4(5).
Mensen, A., Marshall, W., & Tononi, G. (2017). EEG differentiation analysis and stimulus set meaningfulness. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 274988.
Casarotto, S., Comanducci, A., Rosanova, M., Sarasso, S., Fecchio, M., Napolitani, M., ... & Massimini, M. (2016). Stratification of unresponsive patients by an independently validated index of brain complexity. Annals of Neurology, 80(5), 718-729.
Sasai, S., Boly, M., Mensen, A., & Tononi, G. (2016). Functional split brain in a driving/listening paradigm. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(50), 14444-14449.
Boly, M., Sasai, S., Gosseries, O., Oizumi, M., Casali, A., Massimini, M., & Tononi, G. (2015). Stimulus set meaningfulness and neurophysiological differentiation: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. PloS One, 10(5), e0125337.
Sarasso, S., Boly, M., Napolitani, M., Gosseries, O., Charland-Verville, V., Casarotto, S., ... & Massimini, M. (2015). Consciousness and complexity during unresponsiveness induced by propofol, xenon, and ketamine. Current Biology, 25(23), 3099-3105.
Pigorini, A., Sarasso, S., Proserpio, P., Szymanski, C., Arnulfo, G., Casarotto, S., ... & Massimini, M. (2015). Bistability breaks-off deterministic responses to intracortical stimulation during non-REM sleep. Neuroimage, 112, 105-113.
Casali, A. G., Gosseries, O., Rosanova, M., Boly, M., Sarasso, S., Casali, K. R., ... & Massimini, M. (2013). A theoretically based index of consciousness independent of sensory processing and behavior. Science Translational Medicine, 5(198), 198ra105-198ra105.
Rosanova, M., Gosseries, O., Casarotto, S., Boly, M., Casali, A. G., Bruno, M. A., ... & Massimini, M. (2012). Recovery of cortical effective connectivity and recovery of consciousness in vegetative patients. Brain, 135(4), 1308-1320.
Ferrarelli, F., Massimini, M., Sarasso, S., Casali, A., Riedner, B. A., Angelini, G., ... & Pearce, R. A. (2010). Breakdown in cortical effective connectivity during midazolam-induced loss of consciousness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(6), 2681-2686.
Massimini, M., Boly, M., Casali, A., Rosanova, M., & Tononi, G. (2009). A perturbational approach for evaluating the brain's capacity for consciousness. Progress in Brain Research, 177, 201-214.
Massimini, M., Ferrarelli, F., Huber, R., Esser, S. K., Singh, H., & Tononi, G. (2005). Breakdown of cortical effective connectivity during sleep. Science, 309(5744), 2228-2232.

Additional empirical findings of interest for IIT (literature list)

Arena, A., Juel, B. E., Comolatti, R., Thon, S., & Storm, J. F. (2022). Capacity for consciousness under ketamine anaesthesia is selectively associated with activity in posteromedial cortex in rats. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2022(1), niac004.
Afrasiabi, M., Redinbaugh, M.J., Phillips, J.M., Kambi, N.A., Mohanta, S., Raz, A., Haun, A.M. and Saalmann, Y.B. (2021). Consciousness depends on integration between parietal cortex, striatum, and thalamus. Cell systems, 12(4), pp.363-373.
Sarasso, S., Casali, A. G., Casarotto, S., Rosanova, M., Sinigaglia, C., & Massimini, M. (2021). Consciousness and complexity: a consilience of evidence. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 7(2), 1-24.
Sanders, R. D., Mostert, N., Lindroth, H., Tononi, G., & Sleigh, J. (2018). Is consciousness frontal? Two perioperative case reports that challenge that concept. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 121(1), 330-332.
Boly, M., Massimini, M., Tsuchiya, N., Postle, B. R., Koch, C., & Tononi, G. (2017). Are the neural correlates of consciousness in the front or in the back of the cerebral cortex? Clinical and neuroimaging evidence. Journal of Neuroscience, 37(40), 9603-9613.
Siclari, F., Baird, B., Perogamvros, L., Bernardi, G., LaRocque, J. J., Riedner, B., ... & Tononi, G. (2017). The neural correlates of dreaming. Nature Neuroscience, 20(6), 872-878.
Koch, C., Massimini, M., Boly, M., & Tononi, G. (2016). Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(5), 307-321.
Nieminen, J. O., Gosseries, O., Massimini, M., Saad, E., Sheldon, A. D., Boly, M., ... & Tononi, G. (2016). Consciousness and cortical responsiveness: a within-state study during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 30932.