Empirical Validation
of Integrated Information Theory

IIT is currently being tested in two adversarial collaborations, supported by the Templeton World Charity Foundation:

• ARC-COGITATE: IIT vs. Global Neuronal Workspace theory

• ARC-INTREPID: IIT vs. two predictive processing frameworks—Active Inference and Neurorepresentationalism

The experiments of these projects are co-designed by proponents of the theories involved, with the idea that the empirical results should favor the predictions of one theory over the other. The projects are facilitated by neutral third parties, and the hypotheses of each theory are publicly pre-registered before experimentation begins. All predictions are then tested empirically by independent research laboratories. 

The results from the first round of ARC-COGITATE experiments have been published in Nature (Cogitate Consortium 2025):

• Of IIT's pre-registered predictions (pages 26-27), two out of three found support.

• For a discussion of why IIT's third prediction may not have been supported, see the response from Boly, Koch, and Tononi (page 119 of the Supplementary Information from the Cogitate Consortium 2025). 

• Boly, M., Smith, R., Vigueras Borrego, G., Pozuelos, J. P., Allaudin, T., Malinowski, P., & Tononi, G. (2024). Neural correlates of pure presence. bioRxiv, 2024-04.

• Melloni, L., Mudrik, L., Pitts, M., Bendtz, K., Ferrante, O., Gorska, U., ... & Tononi, G. (2023). An adversarial collaboration protocol for testing contrasting predictions of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theory. PLOS one, 18(2), e0268577.

• Mayner, W. G., Marshall, W., Billeh, Y. N., Gandhi, S. R., Caldejon, S., Cho, A., ... & Arkhipov, A. (2022). Measuring stimulus-evoked neurophysiological differentiation in distinct populations of neurons in mouse visual cortex. Eneuro, 9(1).

• Haun, A. M., Oizumi, M., Kovach, C. K., Kawasaki, H., Oya, H., Howard, M. A., ... & Tsuchiya, N. (2017). Conscious perception as integrated information patterns in human electrocorticography. Eneuro, 4(5).

• Mensen, A., Marshall, W., & Tononi, G. (2017). EEG differentiation analysis and stimulus set meaningfulness. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 274988.

• Casarotto, S., Comanducci, A., Rosanova, M., Sarasso, S., Fecchio, M., Napolitani, M., ... & Massimini, M. (2016). Stratification of unresponsive patients by an independently validated index of brain complexity. Annals of Neurology, 80(5), 718-729.

• Sasai, S., Boly, M., Mensen, A., & Tononi, G. (2016). Functional split brain in a driving/listening paradigm. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(50), 14444-14449.

• Boly, M., Sasai, S., Gosseries, O., Oizumi, M., Casali, A., Massimini, M., & Tononi, G. (2015). Stimulus set meaningfulness and neurophysiological differentiation: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. PloS One, 10(5), e0125337.

• Sarasso, S., Boly, M., Napolitani, M., Gosseries, O., Charland-Verville, V., Casarotto, S., ... & Massimini, M. (2015). Consciousness and complexity during unresponsiveness induced by propofol, xenon, and ketamine. Current Biology, 25(23), 3099-3105.

• Pigorini, A., Sarasso, S., Proserpio, P., Szymanski, C., Arnulfo, G., Casarotto, S., ... & Massimini, M. (2015). Bistability breaks-off deterministic responses to intracortical stimulation during non-REM sleep. Neuroimage, 112, 105-113.

• Casali, A. G., Gosseries, O., Rosanova, M., Boly, M., Sarasso, S., Casali, K. R., ... & Massimini, M. (2013). A theoretically based index of consciousness independent of sensory processing and behavior. Science Translational Medicine, 5(198), 198ra105-198ra105.

• Rosanova, M., Gosseries, O., Casarotto, S., Boly, M., Casali, A. G., Bruno, M. A., ... & Massimini, M. (2012). Recovery of cortical effective connectivity and recovery of consciousness in vegetative patients. Brain, 135(4), 1308-1320.

• Ferrarelli, F., Massimini, M., Sarasso, S., Casali, A., Riedner, B. A., Angelini, G., ... & Pearce, R. A. (2010). Breakdown in cortical effective connectivity during midazolam-induced loss of consciousness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(6), 2681-2686.

• Massimini, M., Boly, M., Casali, A., Rosanova, M., & Tononi, G. (2009). A perturbational approach for evaluating the brain's capacity for consciousness. Progress in Brain Research, 177, 201-214.

• Massimini, M., Ferrarelli, F., Huber, R., Esser, S. K., Singh, H., & Tononi, G. (2005). Breakdown of cortical effective connectivity during sleep. Science, 309(5744), 2228-2232. 

• Tononi, G., Boly, M., & Cirelli, C. (2024). Consciousness and sleep. Neuron, 112(10), 1568-1594.

• Arena, A., Juel, B. E., Comolatti, R., Thon, S., & Storm, J. F. (2022). Capacity for consciousness under ketamine anaesthesia is selectively associated with activity in posteromedial cortex in rats. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2022(1), niac004.

• Afrasiabi, M., Redinbaugh, M.J., Phillips, J.M., Kambi, N.A., Mohanta, S., Raz, A., Haun, A.M. and Saalmann, Y.B. (2021). Consciousness depends on integration between parietal cortex, striatum, and thalamus. Cell systems, 12(4), pp.363-373.

• Sarasso, S., Casali, A. G., Casarotto, S., Rosanova, M., Sinigaglia, C., & Massimini, M. (2021). Consciousness and complexity: a consilience of evidence. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 7(2), 1-24. 

• Sanders, R. D., Mostert, N., Lindroth, H., Tononi, G., & Sleigh, J. (2018). Is consciousness frontal? Two perioperative case reports that challenge that concept. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 121(1), 330-332.

• Boly, M., Massimini, M., Tsuchiya, N., Postle, B. R., Koch, C., & Tononi, G. (2017). Are the neural correlates of consciousness in the front or in the back of the cerebral cortex? Clinical and neuroimaging evidence. Journal of Neuroscience, 37(40), 9603-9613.

• Siclari, F., Baird, B., Perogamvros, L., Bernardi, G., LaRocque, J. J., Riedner, B., ... & Tononi, G. (2017). The neural correlates of dreaming. Nature Neuroscience, 20(6), 872-878.

• Koch, C., Massimini, M., Boly, M., & Tononi, G. (2016). Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(5), 307-321.

• Nieminen, J. O., Gosseries, O., Massimini, M., Saad, E., Sheldon, A. D., Boly, M., ... & Tononi, G. (2016). Consciousness and cortical responsiveness: a within-state study during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 30932.