Consciousness - Expanding the Model of Causal Collapse

The model of causal collapse describes consciousness as a state of maximally inseparable causal entanglement in neuronal systems (Stegemann 2025). In this article, the original model is expanded in an interdisciplinary way. First, neurophysiological correlates and measurable indicators of causal collapse are explained, such as the Perturbational Complexity Index (PCI) from TMS-EEG experiments, functional connectivity patterns, and characteristic differences between states of consciousness (wakefulness, deep sleep, REM sleep, psychedelic states). Secondly, there is a systematic differentiation of different types of consciousness – from primary consciousness to self-consciousness and intentionality to affective consciousness – each reconstructed from the structure of causal collapse. Third, the extended model is theoretically positioned in comparison to competing approaches such as Integrated Information Theory (IIT), Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and plasticity-based models. Despite different perspectives, it turns out that the causal core of consciousness can be understood as a decentralized, dynamic network state that offers both consistent theoretical description and empirical testability. Finally, possibilities for connection to empirical research and implications for artificial consciousness systems are discussed.