(ConsciousComputation) Computational components of conscious awareness

（ConsciousComputation）意识意识的计算组成部分

• 批准号: EP/X032159/1
• 负责人: Stephen Fleming
• 金额: $ 213.58万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX032159%2F1
• 关键词: ConsciousComputation; Computational; components; conscious; awareness

At any one moment in time we are aware of only a fraction of the information processed by our brains. We may be aware of the detail of a visual scene, a painting, or the words on a page, and yet remain unaware of our digestion, breathing or feel of the clothes on our skin. Even when conscious level is held constant - when we are awake, and attentive - the contents of awareness may vary, and do so in ways that are independent of other aspects of mental function - for instance, the experience of mind-wandering while driving, despite continuing to steer, change gear, and respond to changes in traffic. In recent decades, new tools and techniques have been developed to characterise dissociations between performance and awareness. However, the psychological, computational and neural mechanisms that enable awareness of mental contents remain poorly understood.ConsciousComputation aims to reverse engineer how human awareness judgments are formed. I will test a new model that proposes that awareness depends on global, abstract representations of the presence or absence of mental contents. To test this theory I will combine psychophysics, computational model simulations and recent advances in human neuroimaging (including 7 Tesla fMRI and optically-pumped MEG) to visualise the neurocomputational components supporting awareness judgments at an unprecedented level of detail.My proposal addresses a foundational challenge for 21st century science: why certain aspects of (biological or artificial) information processing are conscious, and others are not. An answer to this question will revolutionise how we understand the difference between aware and unaware mental states - with widespread ramifications for psychological theory, mental health treatments, and our understanding of personal-level autonomy and conscious thought. The findings of ConsciousComputation will open up new research frontiers and create a cognitive computational neuroscience of conscious awareness.

在任何一个时刻，我们都只能意识到大脑处理的信息的一小部分。我们可能会意识到一个视觉场景的细节，一幅画，或一页纸上的文字，但仍然不知道我们的消化，呼吸或感觉我们的皮肤上的衣服。即使意识水平保持不变--当我们醒着并且注意力集中时--意识的内容也可能会有所不同，并且以独立于心理功能其他方面的方式发生变化--例如，驾驶时走神的经历，尽管继续驾驶、换档并对交通变化做出反应。近几十年来，新的工具和技术已经开发出来，以消除性能和意识之间的分离。然而，心理，计算和神经机制，使意识的心理内容仍然知之甚少。ConsciousComputation旨在逆向工程如何形成人类的意识判断。我将测试一个新的模型，该模型提出意识取决于对心理内容的存在或不存在的全局抽象表征。为了验证这一理论，我将结合联合收割机心理物理学，计算模型模拟和人类神经成像的最新进展（包括7特斯拉功能磁共振成像和光泵脑磁图），以前所未有的细节水平可视化支持意识判断的神经计算组件。我的建议解决了21世纪世纪科学的基础挑战：为什么（生物或人工）信息处理的某些方面是有意识的，而其他方面则不是。这个问题的答案将彻底改变我们如何理解意识和无意识心理状态之间的差异-对心理学理论，心理健康治疗以及我们对个人自主性和有意识思维的理解产生广泛的影响。ConsciousComputation的发现将开辟新的研究前沿，并创建一个有意识意识的认知计算神经科学。