Distinct frontal lobe subregions mediate the emergence and reporting of visual consciousness.
Neuroimage July 1, 2026 Yan Zhang, Xiarong Li, Zhenlan Jin et al.
The frontal lobe contains distinct subregions that support different aspects of visual consciousness. Using EEG and eye-tracking in Report and No-Report paradigms, eye-movement features distinguished conscious from unconscious trials even without explicit reports. The Visual Awareness Negativity (VAN) occurred independently of reporting, while the P3b component appeared only with explicit reports. The frontal Dorsal Attention Network (DAN) supported the emergence of consciousness regardless of reporting, as a classifier decoded visual consciousness bidirectionally between report and no-report tasks. In contrast, the Default Mode Network (DMN) and Frontoparietal Control Network (FPN) encoded consciousness only when explicit reports were required, indicating roles in reporting rather than emergence. These results demonstrate a functional dissociation within the frontal lobe for consciousness emergence versus reporting.