Sizing Up Consciousness ― Towards an Objective Measure of the Capacity for Experience

Whilst our knowledge of brain function has improved over the last decades, there remains a gap in our knowledge of consciousness. Why is the brain associated with consciousness, but not the liver or the heart, as previous cultures believed? Why does consciousness fade during deep sleep while the cerebral cortex remains active? Can computers be conscious?

Using a framework - the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness (IIT) - Sizing up Consciousness explains and measures consciousness. IIT clarifies what consciousness is, how it can be generated from a physical system, and how it can be measured. More importantly, this book shows how conscious states can be expressed mathematically and how precise predictions can be made using data from neurophysiological studies.

Sizing up Consciousness is a short, accessible book which outlines not only this theory but also its applications, including measuring consciousness in those within a coma or vegetative state. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in consciousness.

Marcello Massimini was trained as a Medical Doctor and received a PhD in Neurophysiology. He worked at Laval University (Canada), at the University of Wisconsin (USA), at the ComaScience Group, University of Liege (Belgium) and is currently Professor of Physiology at the University of Milan (Italy). In 2013, he received the James S. McDonnell Scholar Award. His research team investigates the mechanisms of loss and recovery of consciousness in different conditions such as wakefulness, sleep, dreaming, anaesthesia and coma. His current goal is to bring theoretical and basic neuroscience closer to the bedside of brain-injured patients.

Giulio Tononi received his medical degree and specialized in Psychiatry at the University of Pisa, Italy. After serving as an Army medical officer, he obtained a Ph.D. in neuroscience as a fellow of the Scuola Superiore. He is currently Professor of Psychiatry, Distinguished Professor in Consciousness Science, the David P. White Chair in Sleep Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness. In 2005 he received the NIH Director's Pioneer Award for his work on sleep. His laboratory studies consciousness and its disorders as well as the mechanisms and functions of sleep.