Cover not available
Part of
The Constitution of Phenomenal Consciousness: Toward a science and theory
Edited by Steven M. Miller
[Advances in Consciousness Research 92] 2015
► pp. 205–225

On why the unconscious prerequisites and consequences of consciousness might derail us from unraveling the neural correlates of consciousness

| Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Frankfurt am Main
| University of Tartu, Tallinn
| Ernst Strüngmann Institute in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Frankfurt am Main
| NYU Langone Medical Center, New York

It has been proposed that one key step for solving the mystery of consciousness is to locate the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). The experimental paradigms for revealing the NCC have commonly applied the contrast between conditions with and without conscious perception. However, such contrast does not exclusively reveal the neural processes directly related to conscious experience of the target but also the prerequisites for and the consequences of conscious perception. Therefore, understanding the neural bases of conscious experience requires the NCC to be experimentally disentangled from these confounding processes. Here we review some recent experimental developments and suggest some new empirical approaches for distilling the neural basis of conscious perception.

Published online: 17 June 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aicr.92.08aru
References
Aedo-Jury, F., Schwiedrzik, C.M., Singer, W., & Melloni, L
(2010, November). Differential brain activation for increases in objective performance and subjective awareness in perceptual learning. Paper presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), San Diego, USA.
Aru, J., Axmacher, N., Do Lam, A.T.A., Fell, J., Elger, C.E., Singer, W., & Melloni, L
(2012) Local category-specific gamma band responses in the visual cortex do not reflect conscious perception. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(43), 14909–14914. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aru, J., & Bachmann, T
(2009a) Boosting up gamma-band oscillations leaves target-stimulus in masking out of awareness: Explaining an apparent paradox. Neuroscience Letters, 450(3), 351–355. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009b) Occipital EEG correlates of conscious awareness when subjective target shine-through and effective visual masking are compared: Bifocal early increase in gamma power and speed-up of P1. Brain Research, 1271, 60–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aru, J., Bachmann, T., Singer, W., & Melloni, L
(2012) Distilling the neural correlates of consciousness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(2), 737–746. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Auksztulewicz, R., & Blankenburg, F
(2013) Subjective rating of weak tactile stimuli is parametrically encoded in event-related potentials. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(29), 11878–11887. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baars, B.J
(1997) In the theatre of consciousness: The workspace of the mind. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bachmann, T
(2000) Microgenetic approach to the conscious mind. Advances in Consciousness Research (Vol. 25). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Finding ERP-signatures of target awareness: Puzzle persists because of experimental co-variation of the objective and subjective variables. Consciousness and Cognition, 18(3), 804–808. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bachmann, T., Breitmeyer, B.G., & Öğmen, H
(2011) Experimental phenomena of consciousness: A brief dictionary (Rev. ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bachmann, T., & Francis, G
(2014) Visual masking: Studying perception, attention, and consciousness. Oxford, UK: Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bar, M., Tootell, R.B.H., Schacter, D.L., Greve, D.N., Fischl, B., Mendola, J.D., Rosen, B.R., & Dale, A.M
(2001) Cortical mechanisms specific to explicit visual object recognition. Neuron, 29(2), 529–535. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, J.W
(1988) The life of the mind: Selected papers. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Christensen, M.S., Ramsøy, T.Z., Lund, T.E., Madsen, K.H., & Rowe, J.B
(2006) An fMRI study of the neural correlates of graded visual perception. Neuroimage, 31(4), 1711–1725. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crick, F., & Koch, C
(1990) Towards a neurobiological theory of consciousness. Seminars in the Neurosciences, 2, 263–275. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davidesco, I., Zion-Golumbic, E., Bickel, S., Harel, M., Groppe, D.M., Keller, C.J., Schevon, C.A., McKhann, G.M., Goodman, R.R., Goelman, G., Schroeder, C.E., Mehta, A.D., & Malach, R
(2014) Exemplar selectivity reflects perceptual similarities in the human fusiform cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 24(7), 1879–1893. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Graaf, T.A., Hsieh, P.-J., & Sack, A.T
(2012) The ‘correlates’ in neural correlates of consciousness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(1), 191–197. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dehaene, S., & Changeux, J.-P
(2011) Experimental and theoretical approaches to conscious processing. Neuron, 70(2), 200–227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dehaene, S., Changeux, J.-P., Naccache, L., Sackur, J., & Sergent, C
(2006) Conscious, preconscious, and subliminal processing: A testable taxonomy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(5), 204–211. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dehaene, S., & Naccache, L
(2001) Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness: Basic evidence and a workspace framework. Cognition, 79(1–2), 1–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Del Cul, A., Baillet, S., & Dehaene, S
(2007) Brain dynamics underlying the nonlinear threshold for access to consciousness. PLoS Biology, 5(10), e260. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Field, G.D., Sampath, A.P., & Rieke, F
(2005) Retinal processing near absolute threshold: From behavior to mechanism. Annual Review of Physiology, 67, 491–514. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fisch, L., Privman, E., Ramot, M., Harel, M., Nir, Y., Kipervasser, S., Andelman, F., Neufeld, M.Y., Kramer, U., Fried, I., & Malach, R
(2009) Neural “ignition”: Enhanced activation linked to perceptual awareness in human ventral stream visual cortex. Neuron, 64(4), 562–574. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gaillard, R., Dehaene, S., Adam, C., Clémenceau, S., Hasboun, D., Baulac, M., Cohen, L., & Nacchache, L
(2009) Converging intracranial markers of conscious access. PLoS Biology, 7(3), e61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haushofer, J., Livingstone, M.S., & Kanwisher, N
(2008) Multivariate patterns in object-selective cortex dissociate perceptual and physical shape similarity. PLoS Biology, 6(7), e187. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haynes, J.-D
(2009) Decoding visual consciousness from human brain signals. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(5), 194–202. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haynes, J.-D., Driver, J., & Rees, G
(2005) Visibility reflects dynamic changes of effective connectivity between V1 and fusiform cortex. Neuron, 46(5), 811–821. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Horikawa, T., Tamaki, M., Miyawaki, Y., & Kamitani, Y
(2013) Neural decoding of visual imagery during sleep. Science, 340(6132), 639–642. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jannati, A., & Di Lollo, V
(2012) Relative blindsight arises from a criterion confound in metacontrast masking: Implications for theories of consciousness. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(1), 307–314. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, D
(1968) Method, findings, and theory in studies of visual masking. Psychological Bulletin, 70(6), 404–425. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kammer, T
(1999) Phosphenes and transient scotomas induced by magnetic stimulation of the occipital lobe: Their topographic relationship. Neuropsychologia, 37(2), 191–198. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koch, C
(2004) The quest for consciousness: A neurobiological approach. Englewood, CO: Roberts & Company.Google Scholar
Koivisto, M., & Revonsuo, A
(2008) Comparison of event-related potentials in attentional blink and repetition blindness. Brain Research, 1189, 115–126. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Event-related brain potential correlates of visual awareness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 34(6), 922–934. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lamme, V.A.F
(2006) Towards a true neural stance on consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(11), 494–501. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lamy, D., Salti, M., & Bar-Haim, Y
(2009) Neural correlates of subjective awareness and unconscious processing: An ERP study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21(7), 1435–1446. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lau, H.C
(2008) A higher order Bayesian decision theory of consciousness. Progress in Brain Research, 168, 35–48. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Malach, R
(2007) The measurement problem in consciousness research. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 30(5–6), 516–517. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Melloni, L., Molina, C., Pena, M., Torres, D., Singer, W., & Rodriguez, E
(2007) Synchronization of neural activity across cortical areas correlates with conscious perception. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(11), 2858–2865. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Melloni, L., Schwiedrzik, C.M., Müller, N., Rodriguez, E., & Singer, W
(2011) Expectations change the signatures and timing of electrophysiological correlates of perceptual awareness. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(4), 1386–1396. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Melloni, L., & Singer, W
(2010) Distinct characteristics of conscious experience are met by large-scale neuronal synchronization. In E.K. Perry, D. Collerton, F.E.N. LeBeau, & H. Ashton (Eds.), New horizons in the neuroscience of consciousness (pp.17–28). Advances in Consciousness Research (Vol. 79). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Miller, S.M
(2001) Binocular rivalry and the cerebral hemispheres: With a note on the correlates and constitution of visual consciousness. Brain and Mind, 2(1), 119–149. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) On the correlation/constitution distinction problem (and other hard problems) in the scientific study of consciousness. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 19(3), 159–176. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mur, M., Meys, M., Bodurka, J., Goebel, R., Bandettini, P.A., & Kriegeskorte, N
(2013) Human object-similarity judgments reflect and transcend the primate-IT object representation. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pascual-Leone, A., & Walsh, V
(2001) Fast backprojections from the motion to the primary visual area necessary for visual awareness. Science, 292(5516), 510–512. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pins, D., & ffytche, D
(2003) The neural correlates of conscious vision. Cerebral Cortex, 13(5), 461–474. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pitts, M.A., Martínez, A., & Hillyard, S.A
(2012) Visual processing of contour patterns under conditions of inattentional blindness. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24(2), 287–303. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pitts, M.A., Metzler, S., & Hillyard, S
(2014) Isolating neural correlates of conscious perception from neural correlates of reporting one’s perception. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1078. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pitts, M.A., Padwal, J., Fennelly, D., Martínez, A., & Hillyard, S.A
(2014) Gamma band activity and the P3 reflect post-perceptual processes, not visual awareness. Neuroimage, 101, 337–350. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Postle, B.R
(2009) The hippocampus, memory, and consciousness. In S. Laureys & G. Tononi (Eds.), The neurology of consciousness: Cogntive neuroscience and neuropathology (pp.326–338). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Ltd. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quiroga, R.Q., Mukamel, R., Isham, E.A., Malach, R., & Fried, I
(2008) Human single-neuron responses at the threshold of conscious recognition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 105(9), 3599–3604. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rees, G., Kreiman, G., & Koch, C
(2002) Neural correlates of consciousness in humans. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3(4), 261–270. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Revonsuo, A
(2000) Prospects for a scientific research program on consciousness. In T. Metzinger (Ed.), Neural correlates of consciousness: Empirical and conceptual questions (pp.57–75). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
(2001) Can functional brain imaging discover consciousness in the brain? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8(3), 3–23.Google Scholar
Rose, D
(2006) Consciousness: Philosophical, psychological, and neural theories. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rousselet, G.A., & Pernet, C.R
(2011) Quantifying the time course of visual object processing using ERPs: It’s time to up the game. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 107. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sahraie, A., Trevethan, C.T., MacLeod, M.J., Murray, A.D., Olson, J.A., & Weiskrantz, L
(2006) Increased sensitivity after repeated stimulation of residual spatial channels in blindsight. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 103(40), 14971–14976. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwiedrzik, C.M., Jacob, P., Singer, W., & Melloni, L
(2012, October). Perceptual learning effects on sensitivity and subjective awareness rely on different neural systems . Paper presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), New Orleans, USA.
Schwiedrzik, C.M., Ruff, C.C., Lazar, A., Leitner, F.C., Singer, W., & Melloni, L
(2014) Untangling perceptual memory: Hysteresis and adaptation map into separate cortical networks. Cerebral Cortex, 24(5), 1152–1164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwiedrzik, C.M., Singer, W., & Melloni, L
(2009) Sensitivity and perceptual awareness increase with practice in metacontrast masking. Journal of Vision, 9(10), 18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2011) Subjective and objective learning effects dissociate in space and in time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 108(11), 4506–4511. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seth, A.K
(2009) Functions of consciousness. In W.P. Banks (Ed.), Encyclopedia of consciousness, Vol. 1 (pp.279–293). Oxford, UK: Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seth, A.K., Dienes, Z., Cleeremans, A., Overgaard, M., & Pessoa, L
(2008) Measuring consciousness: Relating behavioural and neurophysiological approaches. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(8), 314–321. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Summerfield, C., & Egner, T
(2009) Expectation (and attention) in visual cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(9), 403–409. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zeki, S
(2001) Localization and globalization in conscious vision. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 57–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar