{
  "abstract": "Consciousness is often studied by asking whether particular brain regions or systems are privileged. We tested a distributed, decentred and context-sensitive alternative using 579 consciousness-focused neuroimaging studies. Semantic clustering of titles and abstracts identified seven domains whose corrected meta-analytic maps showed limited overlap and no invariant cross-domain core. These maps occupied 18.0% of grey matter while extending across 91.0% of brain regions. After controlling for reporting topography, distributed cognitive, sensorimotor and organismic-affective maps reconstructed the residual consciousness landscape better than spatial surrogates. Organismic-affective maps contributed most, but functional contributions varied contextually across domains. Theory-associated regional loci added no additional meaningful prediction. Information carried by the functional families was both redundant and synergistic. Coactivation-network and hypergraph analyses revealed a shared network repertoire but context-dependent higher-order coalitions. These results argue against an invariant core, supporting a distributed neurobiology of consciousness in which specialised systems are weighted and combined differently across contexts.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University College London"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "J. I. Skipper"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. Timmermann"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. McAlpine"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Jedlovszky"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Jaglinska"
    },
    {
      "name": "G. Cooper"
    },
    {
      "name": "G. Blackburne"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c8nk58z11kt3n.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.02.745341",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.745341v1.full",
  "id": "c8nk58z11kt3n",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.745341v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3205|Philosophy and Theoretical Science"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7211986418",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.745341v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c8nk58z11kt3n.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:30Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.02.745341",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.745341v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "What is it like to be a blob? A distributed, decentred and context-sensitive neurobiology of consciousness",
  "title_text": "What is it like to be a blob? A distributed, decentred and context-sensitive neurobiology of consciousness",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:30Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c8nk58z11kt3n",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}