Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-s74w7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-16T02:45:27.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The sensory horizons hypothesis fails to explain consciousness because it relies on an abstruse causal function

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2026

Brian Key Open the ORCID record for Brian Key [Opens in a new window]
Brian Key*
Affiliation:
School of Biomedical Sciences, and Centre for Innovation in Pain and Health Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia brian.key@uq.edu.au
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The sensory horizons hypothesis as an explanation of consciousness depends on visual experience directly affecting neural activity underlying conscious model-based planning. Given that there is no known mechanism for subjective experience to generate action potentials, the sensory horizons hypothesis lacks explanatory insight into the function of consciousness. We contend that a better strategy is to investigate non-causal functions of consciousness.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e179
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Beard, C. (2002). East of Eden at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Science, 295(5562), 2028–2029.10.1126/science.1070259CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Key, B., Zalucki, O., & Brown, D. J. (2021). Neural design principles for subjective experience: Implications for insects. Frontiers of Behavioral Neuroscience, 15,658037.10.3389/fnbeh.2021.658037CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Key, B., & Brown, D. J. (2024). Making sense of feelings. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2024 (1), niae034.10.1093/nc/niae034CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Key, B., & Brown, D. J. (2025). How pain fools everyone: An inference to the best explanation. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 177, 106317.10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106317CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ward, P. S. (2014). The phylogeny and evolution of ants. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 45(1), 23–43.10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091824CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeil, J., Narendra, A., & Stürzl, W. (2014). Looking and homing: How displaced ants decide where to go. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1636), 20130034.10.1098/rstb.2013.0034CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed