Consciousness

Our conscious awareness may be governed by a structure deep in the brain

Life as an “innie” in the show Severance would likely involve severe trauma and mental stress, psychological research suggests

Animal emotions—including joy—may be key markers of conscious beings

Neuroscience research claiming to question the existence of free will may have been misinterpreted

It seems like time slows in an emergency or in the heat of a sports match. Here are a few explanations for this altered perception

A planned octopus farm is facing opposition. Here’s why

A mysterious electromagnetic mechanism may be more important than the firing of neurons in our brain to explain our awareness

A Stanford anesthesiologist deconstructs the component parts of what it means to undergo a psychedelic trip

Despite great progress, we lack even the beginning of an explanation of how the brain produces our inner world of colors, sounds, smells and tastes. A thought experiment with “pain-pleasure” zombies illustrates that the mystery is deeper than we thought

A study of mice starts to unravel how the brain gets tricked by a particular optical illusion

A declaration signed by dozens of scientists says there is “a realistic possibility” for elements of consciousness in reptiles, insects and mollusks

Is consciousness nothing more than an illusion? That idea defined the work of Daniel Dennett (1942–2024)