Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; University Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Pedro AM Mediano
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Center for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Science, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; Center for Complexity Science, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Judith Allanson
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Neurosciences, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom
John Pickard
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Robin L Carhart-Harris
Center for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Science, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; Psychedelics Division - Neuroscape, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, United States
Guy B Williams
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Michael M Craig
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; University Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Paola Finoia
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Adrian M Owen
Department of Psychology and Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Lloyd Building, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
David K Menon
University Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
How is the information-processing architecture of the human brain organised, and how does its organisation support consciousness? Here, we combine network science and a rigorous information-theoretic notion of synergy to delineate a ‘synergistic global workspace’, comprising gateway regions that gather synergistic information from specialised modules across the human brain. This information is then integrated within the workspace and widely distributed via broadcaster regions. Through functional MRI analysis, we show that gateway regions of the synergistic workspace correspond to the human brain’s default mode network, whereas broadcasters coincide with the executive control network. We find that loss of consciousness due to general anaesthesia or disorders of consciousness corresponds to diminished ability of the synergistic workspace to integrate information, which is restored upon recovery. Thus, loss of consciousness coincides with a breakdown of information integration within the synergistic workspace of the human brain. This work contributes to conceptual and empirical reconciliation between two prominent scientific theories of consciousness, the Global Neuronal Workspace and Integrated Information Theory, while also advancing our understanding of how the human brain supports consciousness through the synergistic integration of information.
