Human consciousness and cognition go hand in hand, but require different types of explanations

Over the past two decades, consciousness science has advanced from descriptive correlations tomechanistic predictions. Core requirements for conscious states have been clarified, and newdiagnostic tools—most notably the Perturbational Complexity Index (PCI) derived from TMS–EEG—are moving toward clinical use. PCI indicates about a 95% probability of detectingconsciousness in non-communicative patients when purposeful behavior is present. Recentstudies in neurotypical individuals and communicative patients have adopted refined statisticalmethods accounting for regression-to-the-mean effects, along with rigorous awareness scalesdirectly validated by subjective reports. Contrary to mainstream beliefs, these approachesconsistently suggest that some degree of stimulus awareness is necessary for above-chanceperformance. Consciousness thus emerges not as an epiphenomenon but as a prerequisite formost purposeful behaviors in humans. This methodological progress opens new opportunities tobridge the long-standing divide between consciousness and cognitive sciences. At the same time,consciousness, intelligence and cognitive abilities are not identical: they can dissociate inrevealing ways. Subjective experience exceeds its behavioral expression and remains accessibleonly to the experiencer. These observations motivate Integrated Information Theory, anexplanatory framework that generate testable predictions about conscious states and qualitativecontents independently of behavior, while also predicting that energy efficiency requirementsmay give rise to a tight link between consciousness and cognition in biological systems. Clinicaland neuroscientific implications of such framework are discussed.