Over the last years, a surge of empirical studies converged on complexity-related measures as reliable markers of consciousness across many different conditions, such as sleep, anesthesia, hallucinatory states, coma, and related disorders. Most of these measures were independently proposed by researchers endorsing disparate frameworks and employing different methods and techniques. Since this body of evidence has not been systematically reviewed and coherently organized so far, this positive trend has remained somewhat below the radar. The aim of this paper is to make this consilience of evidence in the science of consciousness explicit. We start with a systematic assessment of the growing literature on complexity-related measures and identify their common denominator, tracing it back to core theoretical principles and predictions put forward more than 20 years ago. In doing this, we highlight a consistent trajectory spanning two decades of consciousness research and provide a provisional taxonomy of the present literature. Finally, we consider all of the above as a positive ground to approach new questions and devise future experiments that may help consolidate and further develop a promising field where empirical research on consciousness appears to have, so far, naturally converged.

中文翻译：

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意识和复杂性：证据的一致性


在过去的几年里，大量的实证研究集中在与复杂性相关的测量上，作为许多不同条件下意识的可靠标志，例如睡眠、麻醉、幻觉状态、昏迷和相关疾病。这些措施大多数是由研究人员独立提出的，他们认可不同的框架并采用不同的方法和技术。由于迄今为止尚未对这些证据进行系统审查和连贯组织，因此这一积极趋势仍然在一定程度上未被注意到。本文的目的是使意识科学中的证据一致性变得明确。我们首先对日益增多的复杂性相关衡量指标的文献进行系统评估，并确定它们的共同点，并将其追溯到 20 多年前提出的核心理论原则和预测。在此过程中，我们强调了跨越二十年的意识研究的一致轨迹，并提供了当前文献的临时分类法。最后，我们认为上述所有内容都是解决新问题和设计未来实验的积极基础，这些实验可能有助于巩固和进一步发展一个有前途的领域，迄今为止，意识的实证研究似乎已经自然地趋同。