{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,14]],"date-time":"2026-03-14T16:53:46Z","timestamp":1773507226120,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":72,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,25]],"date-time":"2025-03-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742860800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Qualia Research Institute","award":["IIT2025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IIT2025"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Entropy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Theories of consciousness grounded in neuroscience must explain the phenomenal binding problem, e.g., how micro-units of information are combined to create the macro-scale conscious experience common to human phenomenology. An example is how single \u2018pixels\u2019 of a visual scene are experienced as a single holistic image in the \u2018mind\u2019s eye\u2019, rather than as individual, separate, and massively parallel experiences, corresponding perhaps to individual neuron activations, neural ensembles, or foveal saccades, any of which could conceivably deliver identical functionality from an information processing point of view. There are multiple contested candidate solutions to the phenomenal binding problem. This paper explores how the metaphysical infrastructure of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) v4.0 can provide a distinctive solution. The solution\u2014that particular entities aggregable from multiple units (\u2018complexes\u2019) define existence\u2014might work in a static picture, but introduces issues in a dynamic system. We ask what happens to our phenomenal self as the main complex moves around a biological neural network. Our account of conscious entities developing through time leads to an apparent dilemma for IIT theorists between non-local entity transitions and contiguous selves: the \u2018dynamic entity evolution problem\u2019. As well as specifying the dilemma, we describe three ways IIT might dissolve the dilemma before it gains traction. Clarifying IIT\u2019s position on the phenomenal binding problem, potentially underpinned with novel empirical or theoretical research, helps researchers understand IIT and assess its plausibility. We see our paper as contributing to IIT\u2019s current research emphasis on the shift from static to dynamic analysis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/e27040338","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,25]],"date-time":"2025-03-25T05:35:03Z","timestamp":1742880903000},"page":"338","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Integrated Information Theory and the Phenomenal Binding Problem: Challenges and Solutions in a Dynamic Framework"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0574-9160","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chris","family":"Percy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Arts, Humanities and Education, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK"},{"name":"Qualia Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 95066, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andr\u00e9s","family":"G\u00f3mez-Emilsson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Qualia Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 95066, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cea, I., Negro, N., and Signorelli, C.M. 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