{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T18:42:40Z","timestamp":1786214560315,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":73,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786147200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":219,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,17]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Integrated information theory (IIT) makes two predictions about the role of inactive neurons in consciousness. According to the silent brain (SB) prediction, rendering all active neurons inactive (\u201csilent\u201d) in the physical substrate of consciousness (the \u201cmain complex\u201d) does not eliminate the presence of consciousness, because the neurons are still able to spike. According to the disabled neuron (DN) prediction, rendering a subset of silent neurons in the main complex no longer able to spike (\u201cdisabled\u201d) can impact the qualitative character of experiences \u201cnonconventionally\u201d associated with those neurons. Bartlett (2022) argues that these predictions are untestable, because evidence for either prediction would imply that the testing conditions were not met. In this paper, we provide a detailed analysis of both silent neuron predictions, showing how they can in fact be tested. For the SB case, we clarify how a neural mechanism outside of the main complex can yield the required report of consciousness while maintaining the SB state. For the DN case, we distinguish between two ways of explaining how a neural mechanism could casually interact with the main complex: an IIT-inspired \u201cdispositionalist\u201d explanation, and a more conventional \u201cactualist\u201d explanation. Drawing on the work of Imre Lakatos, we conclude with a discussion of how the distinction between the two explanations sheds light on why it is so difficult to resolve theoretical disputes about consciousness. Despite these difficulties, we provide a framework that can lead to concrete progress for consciousness science.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/nc\/niag037","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,20]],"date-time":"2026-06-20T11:42:59Z","timestamp":1781955779000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Integrated information theory (IIT) and the testability of the silent neuron predictions"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"2026","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8866-5554","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sergio","family":"Ponce de Leon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California , Merced ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jeff","family":"Yoshimi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California , Merced ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026080814015428100_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0340593","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0340593","article-title":"Protocol for investigating the warping of spatial experience across the blind spot to contrast predictions of the integrated information theory and predictive processing accounts of consciousness","volume":"21","author":"Abbatecola","year":"2026","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2026080814015428100_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.3390\/e21050459","article-title":"What caused what? 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