Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.
PLoS One January 1, 2025 Kengo Takahashi, Samuel Pontes Quero, Julien Fiorilli et al.
A planned experiment will test two competing theories of consciousness: one holding that neuronal activity itself generates conscious experience, the other that the causal structure of neural circuits is responsible. The experiment will optogenetically inactivate a portion of mouse visual cortex that does not respond to behaviorally relevant stimuli, targeting neurons with very low spiking activity that does not significantly affect other cortical areas. The effect on perception of the spatial distribution of stimuli will be measured. Results will be compared against theoretical predictions to help determine the neuronal substrate of consciousness.