Can the macro beat the micro? Integrated information across spatiotemporal scales
Open accessAbstract
Causal interactions within complex systems such as the brain can be analyzed at multiple spatiotemporal levels. It is widely assumed that the micro level is causally complete, thus excluding causation at the macro level. However, by measuring effective information—how much a system’s mechanisms constrain its past and future states—we recently showed that causal power can be stronger at macro rather than micro levels. In this work, we go beyond effective information and consider additional requirements of a proper measure of causal power from the intrinsic perspective of a system: composition (the cause–effect power of the parts), state-dependency (the cause–effect power of the system in a specific state); integration (the causal irreducibility of the whole to its parts), and exclusion (the causal borders of the system). A measure satisfying these requirements, called ΦMax, was developed in the context of integrated information theory. Here, we evaluate ΦMax systematically at micro and macro levels in space and time using simplified neuronal-like systems. We show that for systems characterized by indeterminism and/or degeneracy, Φ can indeed peak at a macro level. This happens if coarse-graining micro elements produces macro mechanisms with high irreducible causal selectivity. These results are relevant to a theoretical account of consciousness, because for integrated information theory the spatiotemporal maximum of integrated information fixes the spatiotemporal scale of consciousness. More generally, these results show that the notions of macro causal emergence and micro causal exclusion hold when causal power is assessed in full and from the intrinsic perspective of a system.
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Synchronization of micro-scale phenomena into larger groupings on meso- and macro-scales could be viewed as a kind of informational closure and coarse-graining.
“This synchronization of micro-scale phenomena into larger groupings on meso- and macro-scales could be viewed as a kind of informational closure and coarse-graining (Hoel et al., 2016; Chang et al., 2019).”
From An Integrated World Modeling Theory (IWMT) of Consciousness (2020) · cites this paper as Hoel et al., 2016
The Coarse-graining section (p. 3) describes grouping micro elements into macro elements across spatial and temporal scales, supporting the coarse-graining part of the claim. Our copy does not describe those groupings as synchronization or call them informational closure. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAccording to IIT, the quality of an experience is fully accounted for by a complex's cause-effect structure, with no additional ingredients.
“Finally, IIT claims that the quality of an experience-“what it is like to be” in a specific phenomenal state-is fully accounted for, with no additional ingredients, by that complex's cause-effect structure”
From Dissociating Artificial Intelligence from Artificial Consciousness (2024) · cites this paper as [40]
In principle, all possible grains should be considered.
“In principle, however, all possible grains should be considered [33, 34].”
From Integrated information theory (IIT) 4.0: Formulating the properties of phenomenal existence in physical terms (2023) · cites this paper as [33]
The grain is defined by the principle of maximal existence: across possible micro- and macroscopic levels, the winning grain is the one that ensures maximally irreducible existence for the entity to which the units belong.
“Once again, the grain is defined by the principle of maximal existence: across the possible micro- and macroscopic levels, the “winning” grain is the one that ensures maximally irreducible existence () for the entity to which the units belong [33, 34].”
From Integrated information theory (IIT) 4.0: Formulating the properties of phenomenal existence in physical terms (2023) · cites this paper as [33]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Hoel, E. P., Albantakis, L., Marshall, W., & Tononi, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Tononi, Giulio
- Venue
- Neuroscience of Consciousness
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2016
- Volume
- 2016
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- niw012
- ISSN
- 2057-2107 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6367968
- OpenAlex
- W2514120153
- Cited by
- 140
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 13.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Neuroscience of Consciousness (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Templeton World Charity Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Keywords
- integrated information theory, causal powers, spatial and temporal scales, coarse-graining, indeterminism, degeneracy, consciousness
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