Explanatory Correlates of Consciousness: Theoretical and Computational Challenges Anil Seth Published online: 25 January 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract Consciousness is a key feature of mammalian cognition and revealing its underlying mechanisms is one of the most important scientific challenges for the 21st century. In this article I review how computational and theoretical approaches can facilitate a transition from cor- relation to explanation in consciousness science. I describe progress towards identifying ‘explanatory correlates’ underlying four fundamental properties characterizing most if not all conscious experiences: (i) the co-existence of segregation and integration in conscious scenes, (ii) the emergence of a subjective first-person perspective, (iii) the presence of affective conscious contents, either transiently (emotion) or as a background (mood) and (iv) experiences of intention and agency that are characteristic of voluntary action. I also discuss how synthetic approaches can shed additional light on possible functions of consciousness, the role of embodiment in consciousness, and the plausibility of constructing a conscious artefact. Keywords Consciousness Á Explanatory correlate Á Causal density Á Complexity Á Perspectivalness Á Emotion Á Volition Á Computational model Á Selfhood Á Emergence Introduction Over the past 20 years experimental work addressing consciousness has shaped a new empirical science of consciousness integrating findings from psychology, neu- roscience, psychiatry, neurology and cognitive science (e.g. [3, 27, 95]). Each new experimental result both enriches and constrains possible theories of consciousness and motivates further studies. At the same time, the history of science makes clear that progress is best achieved when experimental programmes are accompanied by synthetic methods which exemplify Braitenberg’s law of ‘uphill analysis versus downhill synthesis’, the idea that complex phenomena that resist direct analysis can be better under- stood by analysis of less complex alternatives instantiated in simulation [9]. ‘Cognitive computation’ describes a class of synthetic methods highly suited for advancing the sci- ence of consciousness. The remit of cognitive computation is broad, covering biologically inspired computational accounts and models of all aspects of natural and artificial cognitive systems (Hussain, this volume). Importantly, adopting such an approach does not necessitate the assumption that cognitive/conscious systems are them- selves computational systems; indeed, in this article no such assumption is made. I will review several aspects of the current and future science of consciousness from the perspective of cognitive computation. These aspects are united by the development of ‘explanatory correlates of consciousness’: neural pro- cesses that not only correlate with, but also account for fundamental properties of conscious experience. I identify four such properties for which synthetic approaches hold particular promise: dynamical complexity, perspectival- ness, emotion and mood, and volition. These properties are fundamental inasmuch as they are common to most if not Invited article for inaugural issue of Cognitive Computation. A. Seth (&) Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK e-mail: a.k.seth@sussex.ac.uk URL: www.anilseth.com 123 Cogn Comput (2009) 1:50–63 DOI 10.1007/s12559-009-9007-x