Chart of consciousness space plots three variables on a cube: internal awareness, wakefulness and connectedness.

Schematic represents key brain areas related to these four consciousness constructs: higher-order theories, global workspace theories, integrated information theory, and reentry and predictive processing theories.

Consciousness

My colleague Allison Parshall—edited by Seth Fletcher—wrote a fascinating pair of articles on the topic of consciousness for the February 2026 issue of Scientific American. Here are mobile-formatted versions of a few graphics I developed for the report.

For more context, read the full articles at Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness-science-faces-its-hardest-problem-yet/ and https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-guide-to-29-wildly-different-theories-of-consciousness/

Top: Jen Christiansen; Source: “Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness,” by Charlotte Martial et al., in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 24; March 2020 (primary framework reference)

Bottom: Jen Christiansen; Source: “Theories of Consciousness,” by Anil K. Seth and Tim Bayne, in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Vol. 23; July 2022 (primary reference)

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