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/...
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..
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
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!
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/...
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
New paper with Azenet Lopez in C&C: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #PhilMind #PhilConsc #Consciousness
Building blocks for theories of consciousness
Consciousness science is brimming with theories attempting to explain what consciousness is and how it can be identified in natural and artificial sys…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 14, 2025 at 5:58 PM
New paper with Azenet Lopez in C&C: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #PhilMind #PhilConsc #Consciousness
Congratulations!
Dream start for database that aims to improve our understanding of conscious experience in sleep
Free link to the paper in Nature Communication is rdcu.be/eAwni !
Free link to the paper in Nature Communication is rdcu.be/eAwni !
A dream EEG and mentation database
Nature Communications - The authors present a multicenter database to investigate the neural correlates of dreaming, including physiological, behavioral and experiential data. This database could...
rdcu.be
August 14, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Congratulations!
The spirit of Judo is enshrined in its two mottos, that roughly translates into “the maximum effective use of energy” and “mutual benefit” (but please correct me if you know a better translation).
According to its founder, Kano Jigoro, Judo means following these principles in every aspect of life.
According to its founder, Kano Jigoro, Judo means following these principles in every aspect of life.
August 7, 2025 at 4:32 AM
The spirit of Judo is enshrined in its two mottos, that roughly translates into “the maximum effective use of energy” and “mutual benefit” (but please correct me if you know a better translation).
According to its founder, Kano Jigoro, Judo means following these principles in every aspect of life.
According to its founder, Kano Jigoro, Judo means following these principles in every aspect of life.
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
I wrote a commentary (mostly) disagreeing with the thought-provoking @smfleming.bsky.social & @matthiasmichel.bsky.social BBS paper about consciousness arising during the transition of animals from sea to land.
#consciousness #neuroscience #evolution
#consciousness #neuroscience #evolution
OSF
osf.io
August 5, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I wrote a commentary (mostly) disagreeing with the thought-provoking @smfleming.bsky.social & @matthiasmichel.bsky.social BBS paper about consciousness arising during the transition of animals from sea to land.
#consciousness #neuroscience #evolution
#consciousness #neuroscience #evolution
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
Our new book chapter is out, looking at self-awareness/personhood in nonhuman animals, and how it may relate to questions of suffering
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Self-Awareness and Personhood in Non-Human Animals
Beyond simple consciousness or sentience, some non-human animals may possess more sophisticated cognitive abilities linked to capacities for self-awareness or even personhood, capacities that may infl...
link.springer.com
July 31, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Our new book chapter is out, looking at self-awareness/personhood in nonhuman animals, and how it may relate to questions of suffering
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
If you are interested in bird behaviour or animal brains, our book has you covered. Available next week, you can order direct from @mitpress.bsky.social (mitpress.mit.edu/978026255273...) or wherever books are sold.
#birds #neuroskyence 🪶🧠🧪🇨🇦
See more on it here:
www.ulethbridge.ca/unews/articl...
#birds #neuroskyence 🪶🧠🧪🇨🇦
See more on it here:
www.ulethbridge.ca/unews/articl...
Comparative neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk revels in unlocking the what, how and why of bird behaviour | UNews
www.ulethbridge.ca
July 31, 2025 at 2:43 AM
If you are interested in bird behaviour or animal brains, our book has you covered. Available next week, you can order direct from @mitpress.bsky.social (mitpress.mit.edu/978026255273...) or wherever books are sold.
#birds #neuroskyence 🪶🧠🧪🇨🇦
See more on it here:
www.ulethbridge.ca/unews/articl...
#birds #neuroskyence 🪶🧠🧪🇨🇦
See more on it here:
www.ulethbridge.ca/unews/articl...
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
I'm going to be no fun and suppress the impulse to make fun of that, because it actually raises an interesting point. Can the emergent macroscopic 'whole' reach down and control the otherwise random quantum goings-on within it?
July 30, 2025 at 8:15 AM
I'm going to be no fun and suppress the impulse to make fun of that, because it actually raises an interesting point. Can the emergent macroscopic 'whole' reach down and control the otherwise random quantum goings-on within it?
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
Does meditation just happen to address multiple types of suffering, or does its broad effectiveness hint at something deeper about the mechanisms of suffering or well-being itself?
We address this in our new preprint!
@rubenlaukkonen.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
We address this in our new preprint!
@rubenlaukkonen.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
July 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Does meditation just happen to address multiple types of suffering, or does its broad effectiveness hint at something deeper about the mechanisms of suffering or well-being itself?
We address this in our new preprint!
@rubenlaukkonen.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
We address this in our new preprint!
@rubenlaukkonen.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
This looks good!
LAST REMINDER! ⏰ Our call for papers is approaching its final deadline! Don't miss your chance to submit your work. One month left!
Submission: journals.ub.uni-koeln.de/index.php/ph...
@gualtiero.bsky.social @loehrgui.bsky.social @philosophyofai.bsky.social @wanjawiese.bsky.social
#philsky
Submission: journals.ub.uni-koeln.de/index.php/ph...
@gualtiero.bsky.social @loehrgui.bsky.social @philosophyofai.bsky.social @wanjawiese.bsky.social
#philsky
July 29, 2025 at 9:16 AM
This looks good!
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
#psy3280
Student presentation by Ashreye Chopra on Lugo et al. (2015). Beyond the gaze: Communicating in chronic locked-in syndrome. Brain Injury. youtu.be/KYd2TpkSpG0
Student presentation by Ashreye Chopra on Lugo et al. (2015). Beyond the gaze: Communicating in chronic locked-in syndrome. Brain Injury. youtu.be/KYd2TpkSpG0
Paper Presentation on Beyond the gaze: Communicating in Chronic Locked in Syndrome by Lugo et al
YouTube video by Neural basis of Consciousness & Qualia Structure
youtu.be
July 24, 2025 at 12:19 AM
#psy3280
Student presentation by Ashreye Chopra on Lugo et al. (2015). Beyond the gaze: Communicating in chronic locked-in syndrome. Brain Injury. youtu.be/KYd2TpkSpG0
Student presentation by Ashreye Chopra on Lugo et al. (2015). Beyond the gaze: Communicating in chronic locked-in syndrome. Brain Injury. youtu.be/KYd2TpkSpG0
Very good point! We started from similar premises in our 2021 paper academic.oup.com/nc/article/2...
And a similar claim was made more recently by Trachtenberg and colleagues journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Philosophy of psychiatry and neuroscience of consciousness have a lot in common!
And a similar claim was made more recently by Trachtenberg and colleagues journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Philosophy of psychiatry and neuroscience of consciousness have a lot in common!
July 23, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Very good point! We started from similar premises in our 2021 paper academic.oup.com/nc/article/2...
And a similar claim was made more recently by Trachtenberg and colleagues journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Philosophy of psychiatry and neuroscience of consciousness have a lot in common!
And a similar claim was made more recently by Trachtenberg and colleagues journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Philosophy of psychiatry and neuroscience of consciousness have a lot in common!
This looks genuinely amazing. My streak of bad luck with conferences in 2025 continues because I won’t be in Kyoto at that time 😭
Quick teaser of The 2025 ALife Conference Organizing Committee!
Olaf Witkowski, PhD: Conference Chair
Alyssa Adams, PhD: Vice Chair
David Ha: Advisor
Prof. Takashi Ikegami: Advisor
Prof. Hiroki Sayama, Advisor
@alyssa-m-adams.bsky.social @hirokisayama.bsky.social
Olaf Witkowski, PhD: Conference Chair
Alyssa Adams, PhD: Vice Chair
David Ha: Advisor
Prof. Takashi Ikegami: Advisor
Prof. Hiroki Sayama, Advisor
@alyssa-m-adams.bsky.social @hirokisayama.bsky.social
July 22, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This looks genuinely amazing. My streak of bad luck with conferences in 2025 continues because I won’t be in Kyoto at that time 😭
Reposted by Francesco Ellia
Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures — a Comment article by Fernando E. Rosas, Andrea I. Luppi, Pedro A. M. Mediano, Morten L. Kringelbach, Luiz Pessoa & Federico Turkheimer
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
As scientists, we want solid answers, but we also want to answer questions that matter. Yet, the brain’s complexity forces trade-offs between these desiderata, bringing about two distinct research app...
www.nature.com
July 22, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Top-down and bottom-up neuroscience: overcoming the clash of research cultures — a Comment article by Fernando E. Rosas, Andrea I. Luppi, Pedro A. M. Mediano, Morten L. Kringelbach, Luiz Pessoa & Federico Turkheimer
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#neuroscience #neuroskyence
www.nature.com/articles/s41...