Francesco Ellia
@ellia.bsky.social
#Neuroscience of #consciousness from the standpoint of #philosophy of #science 🧠
Researcher at Department of Qualia Structure at ATR - Computational Neuroscience Laboratories 🇯🇵.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco-Ellia?ev=prf_overview
Researcher at Department of Qualia Structure at ATR - Computational Neuroscience Laboratories 🇯🇵.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco-Ellia?ev=prf_overview
Pinned
Francesco Ellia
@ellia.bsky.social
· Sep 14
(PDF) Intrinsic Universal Structures and Extrinsic Local Functions
PDF | Contemporary consciousness science faces an impasse: competing theoretical frameworks, structuralist vs. functionalist, universal vs. local,... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on...
www.researchgate.net
New #preprint out! In this paper @naotsuchiya.bsky.social and I take a look at the current debate on theories of #consciousness from a #meta-theoretical standpoint, and we argue that there is an ongoing process of #schismogenesis in consciousness science. [1/n]
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
wonderful!
Our new paper (with @biotay.bsky.social) is out and on the cover story of @currentbiology.bsky.social !!!! Veronika, a Carinthian mountain cow flexibly uses a “multi-purpose tool” to scratch herself. A video and more information will follow in the comments.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
January 20, 2026 at 3:03 AM
wonderful!
This paper and lecture by @wgpm.bsky.social address a long standing question about #IIT: if #consciousness is intrinsic, how does it relate to its #environment?
From our @qualiastructure.bsky.social Qualia Structure & IIT Summer School 2025!
From our @qualiastructure.bsky.social Qualia Structure & IIT Summer School 2025!
I was very happy to talk about my work on extending Integrated Information Theory to account for perception & meaning with @algarwegian.bsky.social. The talk is geared towards those already familiar with IIT, but may still be of interest even if you're not. Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2412.21111
December 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM
This paper and lecture by @wgpm.bsky.social address a long standing question about #IIT: if #consciousness is intrinsic, how does it relate to its #environment?
From our @qualiastructure.bsky.social Qualia Structure & IIT Summer School 2025!
From our @qualiastructure.bsky.social Qualia Structure & IIT Summer School 2025!
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
If your stimulus set is so large that each participant can only use a part of it, do you know random selection is not a good way to distribute the stimuli? We introduced a methodology to collect data efficiently. @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social doi.org/10.13140/RG....
(PDF) A dynamic stimulus distribution methodology for efficient large-scale pairwise relational data collection
PDF | On Dec 3, 2025, Z Chuyin and others published A dynamic stimulus distribution methodology for efficient large-scale pairwise relational data collection | Find, read and cite all the research you...
doi.org
December 4, 2025 at 2:35 AM
If your stimulus set is so large that each participant can only use a part of it, do you know random selection is not a good way to distribute the stimuli? We introduced a methodology to collect data efficiently. @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social doi.org/10.13140/RG....
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
Be mindful of the subjectivity of conscious experience!
Our poster "Free descriptions reduce friction between report and visual experience" at 2025 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference @ellia.bsky.social @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Our poster "Free descriptions reduce friction between report and visual experience" at 2025 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference @ellia.bsky.social @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Free descriptions reduce friction between report and visual experience
Poster presentation at 2025 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference
doi.org
November 21, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Be mindful of the subjectivity of conscious experience!
Our poster "Free descriptions reduce friction between report and visual experience" at 2025 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference @ellia.bsky.social @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Our poster "Free descriptions reduce friction between report and visual experience" at 2025 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference @ellia.bsky.social @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Identity theory 2.0
November 4, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Identity theory 2.0
Of course, if this model would be able to explain why a human brain is conscious in the way it is, why certain parts of such brain don’t look conscious, why consciousness seems to go away during certain physiological states, then I could take it more seriously.
November 1, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Of course, if this model would be able to explain why a human brain is conscious in the way it is, why certain parts of such brain don’t look conscious, why consciousness seems to go away during certain physiological states, then I could take it more seriously.
I disagree, it’s an hypothesis that you cannot test and that it’s not embedded in an explanatory framework..
To me, it's just a nothing "hypothesis" - it doesn't do any explanatory work, just dismisses the problem. And also is founded on a weird rejection of emergence that is obviously contradicted by all kinds of other evidence
November 1, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I disagree, it’s an hypothesis that you cannot test and that it’s not embedded in an explanatory framework..
Goff position is not a theory nor explains anything. In fact, it’s no more a solution to the HP than claiming that there’s some magic involved.
November 1, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Goff position is not a theory nor explains anything. In fact, it’s no more a solution to the HP than claiming that there’s some magic involved.
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
[Qstr-IIT summer school 2025] Day 1 Matteo Grasso: Introduction to Integrated Information Theory youtu.be/cwPGZ1CacVU?... Highly accessible!
[Qstr-IIT summer school 2025] Day 1 Matteo Grasso: Introduction to Integrated Information Theory
YouTube video by Neural basis of Consciousness & Qualia Structure
youtu.be
October 30, 2025 at 11:55 AM
[Qstr-IIT summer school 2025] Day 1 Matteo Grasso: Introduction to Integrated Information Theory youtu.be/cwPGZ1CacVU?... Highly accessible!
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
[Qstr-IIT summer school 2025] Day 1: Christof Koch: Introduction to Consciousness and Brain youtu.be/rfYX8YVK7HQ?... via @YouTube
[Qstr-IIT summer school 2025] Day 1: Christof Koch: Introduction to the consciousness research
YouTube video by Neural basis of Consciousness & Qualia Structure
youtu.be
October 25, 2025 at 10:42 PM
[Qstr-IIT summer school 2025] Day 1: Christof Koch: Introduction to Consciousness and Brain youtu.be/rfYX8YVK7HQ?... via @YouTube
I will check this reference out! My understanding is that you can always push functions a bit further till the point you have a description of the substrate. Then either it collapse in identity theory or become a substrate relevant framework, such as the one proposed by @anilseth.bsky.social.
:) I do take your point, and many "functionalists" deserve this. But when it comes to consciousness, some people really do believe in intrinsic essences (hence panpsychism). What we need is a microfunctionalism that is thoroughly informed by biology. See Dennett, Sweet Dreams, ch.1.
October 25, 2025 at 7:22 AM
I will check this reference out! My understanding is that you can always push functions a bit further till the point you have a description of the substrate. Then either it collapse in identity theory or become a substrate relevant framework, such as the one proposed by @anilseth.bsky.social.
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Happy to share this new paper (open access) on the logic of extrapolations in consciousness science, written with @liadmudrik.bsky.social
Happy to share this new paper (open access) on the logic of extrapolations in consciousness science, written with @liadmudrik.bsky.social
Extrapolating Other Consciousnesses: The Prospects and Limits of Analogical Abduction | Philosophy of Science | Cambridge Core
Extrapolating Other Consciousnesses: The Prospects and Limits of Analogical Abduction
www.cambridge.org
September 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Happy to share this new paper (open access) on the logic of extrapolations in consciousness science, written with @liadmudrik.bsky.social
Happy to share this new paper (open access) on the logic of extrapolations in consciousness science, written with @liadmudrik.bsky.social
I couldn’t access my account since it was linked to my old institution email. I contacted the customer support and asked them to delete my account and they claimed they did so (oddly enough they didn’t ask any proof of ID). I suggest you to do the same, it’s a bad platform anyway.
September 24, 2025 at 5:52 AM
I couldn’t access my account since it was linked to my old institution email. I contacted the customer support and asked them to delete my account and they claimed they did so (oddly enough they didn’t ask any proof of ID). I suggest you to do the same, it’s a bad platform anyway.
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
New paper! Toward a unified taxonomy of information dynamics via Integrated Information Decomposition, out now in @pnas.org - led by @frosas.bsky.social, Pedro Mediano, & Adam Barrett, w/ @andrealuppi.bsky.social @robincarhartharris.bsky.social, me, & Dan Bor. www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
Toward a unified taxonomy of information dynamics via Integrated Information Decomposition
www.pnas.org
September 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
New paper! Toward a unified taxonomy of information dynamics via Integrated Information Decomposition, out now in @pnas.org - led by @frosas.bsky.social, Pedro Mediano, & Adam Barrett, w/ @andrealuppi.bsky.social @robincarhartharris.bsky.social, me, & Dan Bor. www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
This is a core issue that I have with the recent paper on AI and consciousness based on computational functionalist theories. Also the term theory is very inflated nowadays. I am guilty of that myself, but something to think about.
First, I acknowledge that consciousness research has made progress but to me that progress has come with constraints: successful theories constrain further progress. What if these theories are not close to figuring out consciousness? Our field was intellectually more fluid 20 years ago. #consci
September 22, 2025 at 2:01 AM
This is a core issue that I have with the recent paper on AI and consciousness based on computational functionalist theories. Also the term theory is very inflated nowadays. I am guilty of that myself, but something to think about.
Another preprint! By @zhangchuyin.bsky.social me and @naotsuchiya.bsky.social !
How to better measure subjective experience? Our new #preprint argues that we should focus on the "what-it-is-like" of #consciousness rather than experimenter-centric task design and analyses. @qualiastructure.bsky.social @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @ellia.bsky.social dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG....
(PDF) Intersubjective Agreement (IA) reduces friction between report and visual experience
PDF | Chuyin et al. (2022) developed a novel free report paradigm and found that participants were able to report specific descriptions of natural... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on...
dx.doi.org
September 17, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Another preprint! By @zhangchuyin.bsky.social me and @naotsuchiya.bsky.social !
New preprint out!
My friend @zhangchuyin.bsky.social is new on Bluesky, he is a brilliant student close to the end of his PhD, please follow him!
My friend @zhangchuyin.bsky.social is new on Bluesky, he is a brilliant student close to the end of his PhD, please follow him!
How to better measure subjective experience? Our new #preprint argues that we should focus on the "what-it-is-like" of #consciousness rather than experimenter-centric task design and analyses. @qualiastructure.bsky.social @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @ellia.bsky.social dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG....
(PDF) Intersubjective Agreement (IA) reduces friction between report and visual experience
PDF | Chuyin et al. (2022) developed a novel free report paradigm and found that participants were able to report specific descriptions of natural... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on...
dx.doi.org
September 17, 2025 at 3:44 AM
New preprint out!
My friend @zhangchuyin.bsky.social is new on Bluesky, he is a brilliant student close to the end of his PhD, please follow him!
My friend @zhangchuyin.bsky.social is new on Bluesky, he is a brilliant student close to the end of his PhD, please follow him!
Check out our new preprint on theories of #consciousness!
New #preprint out! In this paper @naotsuchiya.bsky.social and I take a look at the current debate on theories of #consciousness from a #meta-theoretical standpoint, and we argue that there is an ongoing process of #schismogenesis in consciousness science. [1/n]
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) Intrinsic Universal Structures and Extrinsic Local Functions
PDF | Contemporary consciousness science faces an impasse: competing theoretical frameworks, structuralist vs. functionalist, universal vs. local,... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on...
www.researchgate.net
September 16, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Check out our new preprint on theories of #consciousness!
We argue that there is a genuine, hard-to-reconcile (perhaps impossible?), schism, most likely given by the extrinsic and intrinsic dimension we highlighted.
September 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
We argue that there is a genuine, hard-to-reconcile (perhaps impossible?), schism, most likely given by the extrinsic and intrinsic dimension we highlighted.
Of course we aren't immune by our own biases! So we would be delighted to hear your feedbacks about this project. Since the scope of this paper is very broad there is a chance that if you work in #consci you might have something to tell me or @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social !
September 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Of course we aren't immune by our own biases! So we would be delighted to hear your feedbacks about this project. Since the scope of this paper is very broad there is a chance that if you work in #consci you might have something to tell me or @naotsuchiya.bsky.social @qualiastructure.bsky.social !
The potential lack of a 'common measure' (or #incommensurability) could be the reason why, many times, proponents of different frameworks seem to talk past each other, instead of *to* each other. This also prompted a reflection on #cognitivebias in consciousness science [4/n]
September 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
The potential lack of a 'common measure' (or #incommensurability) could be the reason why, many times, proponents of different frameworks seem to talk past each other, instead of *to* each other. This also prompted a reflection on #cognitivebias in consciousness science [4/n]
Notably, both clusters are differentiated for both foundational assumptions on what the scientific investigation of #consciousness should concern, and crucial questions to be asked by such research. [3/n]
September 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Notably, both clusters are differentiated for both foundational assumptions on what the scientific investigation of #consciousness should concern, and crucial questions to be asked by such research. [3/n]
We focus on three parallel debates concerning: #structures and #functions, #universalism and #'localism', and #extrinsic and #intrinsic #perspectives.
We argue that there are two emerging clusters, intrinsic-universal-structures and extrinsic-local-functions. [2/n]
We argue that there are two emerging clusters, intrinsic-universal-structures and extrinsic-local-functions. [2/n]
September 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
We focus on three parallel debates concerning: #structures and #functions, #universalism and #'localism', and #extrinsic and #intrinsic #perspectives.
We argue that there are two emerging clusters, intrinsic-universal-structures and extrinsic-local-functions. [2/n]
We argue that there are two emerging clusters, intrinsic-universal-structures and extrinsic-local-functions. [2/n]
New #preprint out! In this paper @naotsuchiya.bsky.social and I take a look at the current debate on theories of #consciousness from a #meta-theoretical standpoint, and we argue that there is an ongoing process of #schismogenesis in consciousness science. [1/n]
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) Intrinsic Universal Structures and Extrinsic Local Functions
PDF | Contemporary consciousness science faces an impasse: competing theoretical frameworks, structuralist vs. functionalist, universal vs. local,... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on...
www.researchgate.net
September 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
New #preprint out! In this paper @naotsuchiya.bsky.social and I take a look at the current debate on theories of #consciousness from a #meta-theoretical standpoint, and we argue that there is an ongoing process of #schismogenesis in consciousness science. [1/n]
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...