Atsushi Iriki
Laboratory for Symbolic Cognitive Development, RIKEN
Integrated information Consciousness is intrinsic causal power, measured as integrated information
Atsushi Iriki is a neuroscientist at RIKEN in Japan, where he leads research on the neural basis of tool use and symbolic cognitive development. His work demonstrated that tool use in macaque monkeys causes rapid expansion of cortical representation areas, evidence for the brain’s adaptive reorganization around extensions of the body, research with direct relevance to embodied cognition and the extension of self in artificial systems.
In 2026 he co-authored “A Path Integral Model of Cognition” (arXiv:2607.24807) with Haruki Emori, Kazunori Kondo, and Andrei Khrennikov, developing a quantum mechanical formulation of cognitive cost optimization in which the transition from unconscious to conscious processing is modeled as a coupling-strength transition in an open quantum system.
Iriki’s work connects the neurobiology of the extended self to the physics of consciousness research, linking the embodied and symbolic traditions with the quantum foundations program this site tracks.
Known for. Tool-use neuroplasticity in primates, symbolic cognitive development, path-integral model of cognition, consciousness and Japan
Coverage on this site
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Atsushi Iriki is listed with the other integrated information theorists, who hold that consciousness is intrinsic causal power, measured as integrated information. The theory family behind that position is set out in the index of consciousness theories. Every researcher covered on this site is indexed in the directory of consciousness researchers.