Melanie Boly

Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin-Madison · Information

Melanie Boly MD PhD is Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a leading clinical neurologist and neuroscientist known for her foundational contributions to the measurement of consciousness in comatose, anesthetized, and vegetative state patients.

Boly is a core co-developer of Integrated Information Theory 4.0 (IIT 4.0) alongside Giulio Tononi and Larissa Albantakis. Her empirical research utilizes high-density EEG, TMS-EEG perturbation metrics (such as the Perturbational Complexity Index), and functional neuroimaging to map the cortical boundaries of conscious awareness. In her 2026 research on “Pure Presence,” she identifies the posterior cortical hot zone substrates required for minimal phenomenal experience devoid of sensory content.

Boly’s work emphasizes that consciousness is determined by intrinsic cause-effect power rather than extrinsic computational input-output transformations, defining the precise mathematical conditions required for any system to generate subjective experience.

Known for. Co-developer of Integrated Information Theory 4.0 (IIT 4.0), Neural Correlates of Pure Presence, EEG/fMRI consciousness biomarkers, minimal phenomenal experience

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