Explanatory Gap: The Unsolvable Problem of Consciousness in Neuroscience

Philosopher Joseph Levine coined the term 'Explanatory Gap' to describe the theoretical chasm between subjective experience and objective brain science. This gap challenges the core assumption of modern science that everything can be understood through physical laws. While neuroscience can correlate neural activity with mental states, it cannot explain why physical processes give rise to qualia—the subjective 'feel' of consciousness. The gap manifests in the mind-body problem and the interface problem between psychology and neuroscience, stalling integration of these fields. Attempts to bridge the gap include idealism, panpsychism, functionalism, and emergentism, but none fully reconcile subjective and objective realms. Some philosophers, like Colin McGinn, argue the gap is insurmountable due to human cognitive closure, a position called Mysterianism. The gap has practical implications for psychiatry and drug development, where treatments often rely on correlations rather than mechanistic understanding.