Sleuthing subjectivity: a review of covert measures of consciousness

Abstract

Consciousness is private. Although conscious beings directly access their own conscious experiences, the consciousness of others must be inferred through overt report: observable behaviours — such as overt facial expressions, vocalizations and body gestures — that suggest the level, state and content of consciousness. However, overt report is limited because it can be erroneous (for example, resulting from wilful deception or being subject to recall error), absent (for example, during sleep and paralysis) or conflict with research goals (for example, in no-report paradigms and resting-state studies). These limitations encourage the search for covert measures of consciousness: physiological signals that disclose consciousness without relying on overt behaviour. This Review highlights emerging covert measures of consciousness in humans, including eye, skin, respiratory and heart signals. We also address the challenge of distinguishing physiological signals linked to conscious versus unconscious neural processing. Finally, we consider the ethical implications of infringing on the innate privacy of consciousness. Consciousness may be inferred in others through observable behaviours such as facial expressions and vocalizations. However, such overt reporting has limitations, leading to research on physiological signals that disclose consciousness without relying on overt behaviour. In this Review, Kronemer, Bandettini and Gonzalez-Castillo explore such covert measures of consciousness in humans.