scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Auditory Perceptual Awareness under Informational Masking

PLoS Biology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. e138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Gutschalk ◽  
Christophe Micheyl ◽  
Andrew J Oxenham
Keyword(s):  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Informational Masking ◽  
Perceptual Awareness

Don't tell anyone: the importance of no-report paradigms in neuroscience of consciousness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Del Vecchio
Keyword(s):  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Perceptual Awareness ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Conscious Processing

The neural correlates of perceptual awareness are usually investigated by comparing experimental conditions in which subjects are aware or not aware of the delivered stimulus. This, however implies that subjects report their experience, possibly biasing the neural responses with the post-perceptual processes involved. This Neuro Forum article reviews evidence from an electroencephalography (EEG) study by Cohen and colleagues (Cohen M. et al. Journal of Neuroscience 40 (25) 4925-4935) addressing the importance of no-report paradigms in the neuroscience of consciousness. In particular, authors shows of P3b, one of the proposed canonical "signatures" of the conscious processing, is strongly elicited only when subjects have to report their experience, proposing a reconsideration in the approach to the neuroscience of consciousness.

scholarly journals Distinguishing the neural correlates of perceptual awareness and post-perceptual processing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Cohen ◽  
Kevin Ortego ◽  
Andrew Kyroudis ◽  
Michael Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Experience ◽  
Visual Masking ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Perceptual Awareness ◽  
Conscious Processing ◽  
Human Participants

AbstractTo identify the neural correlates of perceptual awareness, researchers often compare the differences in neural activation between conditions in which an observer is or is not aware of a stimulus. While intuitive, this approach often contains a critical limitation: In order to link brain activity with perceptual awareness, observers traditionally report the contents of their perceptual experience. However, relying on observers’ reports is problematic because it is difficult to know if the neural responses being measured are associated with conscious perception or with post-perceptual processes involved in the reporting task (i.e., working memory, decision-making, etc.). To address this issue, we combined a standard visual masking paradigm with a recently developed “no-report” paradigm in male/female human participants. In the visual masking paradigm, observers saw images of animals and objects that were visible or invisible depending on their proximity to masks. Meanwhile, on half of the trials, observers reported the contents of their perceptual experience (i.e., report condition), while on the other half of trials they refrained from reporting about their experiences (i.e., no-report condition). We used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine how visibility interacts with reporting by measuring the P3b event related potential (ERP), one of the proposed canonical “signatures” of conscious processing. Overall, we found a robust P3b in the report condition, but no P3b whatsoever in the no-report condition. This finding suggests that the P3b itself is not a neural signature of conscious processing and highlights the importance of carefully distinguishing the neural correlates of perceptual awareness from post-perceptual processing.Significance statementWhat are the neural signatures that differentiate conscious and unconscious processing in the brain? Perhaps the most well-established candidate signature is the P3b event-related potential (ERP), a late slow wave that appears when observers are aware of a stimulus, but disappears when a stimulus fails to reach awareness. Here, however, we found that the P3b does not track what observers are perceiving but instead tracks what observers are reporting. When observers are aware of simple visual stimuli, the P3b is nowhere to be found unless observers are reporting the contents of their experience. These results challenge the well-established notion of the P3b as a neural marker of awareness and highlight the need for new approaches to the neuroscience of consciousness.

scholarly journals Investigating the Neural Correlates of a Streaming Percept in an Informational-Masking Paradigm

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. e114427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Akram ◽  
Bernhard Englitz ◽  
Mounya Elhilali ◽  
Jonathan Z. Simon ◽  
Shihab A. Shamma
Keyword(s):  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Informational Masking

scholarly journals Distinguishing the Neural Correlates of Perceptual Awareness and Postperceptual Processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (25) ◽  
pp. 4925-4935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Cohen ◽  
Kevin Ortego ◽  
Andrew Kyroudis ◽  
Michael Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Perceptual Awareness
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