Editing Global workspace theory (section)

== The model ==

The brain contains many specialized processes or modules that operate in parallel, much of which is unconscious.   The global workspace is a functional hub of broadcast and integration that allows information to be disseminated across modules. As such GWT can be classified as a [[functionalism (philosophy of mind)|functionalist]] theory of consciousness.{{sfn|Baars|1998|p=345}}

When sensory input, memories, or internal representations receive attention, they enter the global workspace and become accessible to various cognitive processes. As elements compete for attention, those that succeed gain entry to the global workspace, allowing their information to be distributed and coordinated throughout the whole cognitive system.

GWT resembles the concept of working memory and is proposed to correspond to a 'momentarily active, subjectively experienced' event in working memory. It facilitates top-down control of attention, working memory, planning, and problem-solving through this information sharing.

GWT involves a fleeting memory with a duration of a few seconds (much shorter than the 10–30 seconds of classical [[working memory]]). GWT contents are proposed{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}} to correspond to what we are [[conscious]] of, and are broadcast to a multitude of [[Unconscious mind|unconscious]] cognitive brain [[biological process|processes]], which may be called receiving processes. Other [[Unconscious mind|unconscious]] processes, operating in parallel with limited [[communication]] between them, can form coalitions which can act as input processes to the global workspace. Since globally broadcast messages can evoke actions in receiving processes throughout the brain,{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}} the global workspace may be used to exercise executive control to perform voluntary actions. Individual as well as allied processes compete for access to the global workspace,{{sfn|Kouider|Dehaene|2007}} striving to disseminate their messages to all other processes in an effort to recruit more cohorts and thereby increase the likelihood of achieving their goals. Incoming stimuli need to be stored temporarily in order to be able to compete for attention and conscious access. Kouider and Dehaene predicted the existence of a sensory memory buffer that maintains stimuli for "a few hundreds of milliseconds".{{sfn|Kouider|Dehaene|2007}} Recent research offers preliminary evidence for such a buffer store and indicates a gradual but rapid decay with extraction of meaningful information severely impaired after 300 ms and most data being completely lost after 700 ms.{{sfn|Pang|Elntib}}

Baars asserts that working memory "is closely associated with conscious experience, though not identical to it."{{sfn|Baars|1997a|p=175}} Conscious events may involve more necessary conditions, such as interacting with a "self" system, and an executive interpreter in the brain, such as has been suggested by a number of authors including [[Michael Gazzaniga|Michael S. Gazzaniga]].

Nevertheless, GWT can successfully model a number of characteristics of consciousness, such as its role in handling novel situations, its limited capacity, its sequential nature, and its ability to trigger a vast range of unconscious brain processes. Moreover, GWT lends itself well to computational modeling. [[Stan Franklin]]'s [[Artificial consciousness#Intelligent Distribution Agent|IDA]] model is one such computational implementation of GWT. See also Dehaene et al. (2003), Shanahan{{sfn|Shanahan|2006}} and Bao's "Global Workspace Network" model.{{sfn|Bao|Fountas|Olugbade|Bianchi-Berthouze|2020}}

GWT also specifies "behind the scenes" contextual systems, which shape conscious contents without ever becoming conscious, such as the [[Dorsal stream|dorsal]] [[Cerebral cortex|cortical]] stream of the visual system. This architectural approach leads to specific neural hypotheses. [[Senses|Sensory]] events in different modalities may compete with each other for [[consciousness]] if their contents are incompatible. For example, the audio and video track of a movie will compete rather than fuse if the two tracks are out of sync by more than 100 ms., approximately.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} The 100 ms time domain corresponds closely with the known brain physiology of consciousness, including brain rhythms in the alpha-theta-gamma domain, and event-related potentials in the 200–300 ms domain.{{sfn|Robinson|2009}}{{sfn|Gaillard|Dehaene|Adam|Clémenceau|2009}}

However, much of this research is based on studies of unconscious priming and recent studies show that many of the methods used for unconscious priming are flawed.{{sfn|Meyen|Zerweck|Amado|von Luxburg|2022}}