Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
August 27, 2026
Sabine Gnodde, Vlada Aslanov, Abigail L. Hogan et al.
A central question in consciousness research is whether perceptual awareness is primarily reflected in early posterior sensory activity or in later frontal processes associated with access and report. Empirical tests of these alternatives are challenging because most paradigms rely on explicit perceptual reports, introducing motor and decisional confounds. Here, we used an...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
April 22, 2026
Sabine Gnodde, Vlada Aslanov, Jolien C. Francken et al.
preprint
Abstract A central question in consciousness research is whether perceptual awareness arises predominantly from activity in posterior sensory regions or from later frontal processes associated with access and report. Empirical tests of these alternatives are challenging because most paradigms rely on explicit perceptual reports, introducing motor and decisional confounds. Here, we used an...
Perspectives on Psychological Science
May 2023
Matan Mazor, Simon Brown, Anna Ciaunica et al.
A target question for the scientific study of consciousness is how dimensions of consciousness, such as the ability to feel pain and pleasure or reflect on one's own experience, vary in different states and animal species. Considering the tight link between consciousness and moral status, answers to these questions have implications for law and ethics. Here we point out that given this link,...
Neuroscience of Consciousness
2022
Jolien C. Francken, L. Beerendonk, D. Molenaar et al.
96 citations
Abstract We report the results of an academic survey into the theoretical and methodological foundations, common assumptions, and the current state of the field of consciousness research. The survey consisted of 22 questions and was distributed on two different occasions of the annual meeting of the Association of the Scientific Study of Consciousness (2018 and 2019). We examined responses from...
June 14, 2021
Jolien C. Francken, L. Beerendonk, D. Molenaar et al.
23 citations
preprint
We report the results of an academic survey into the theoretical and methodological foundations, common assumptions and the current state of the field of consciousness science. The survey consisted of 22 questions, was distributed online and at two different occasions of the annual meeting of the Association of the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC, 2018 and 2019), targeting active...
Brain and Cognition
February 2018
Jolien C. Francken, Marc Slors
To enable the impact of neuroscientific insights on our daily lives, careful translation of research findings is required. However, neuroscientific terminology and common-sense concepts are often hard to square. For example, when neuroscientists study lying to allow the use of brain scans for lie-detection purposes, the concept of lying in the scientific case differs considerably from the...
Consciousness and Cognition
October 2014
Jolien C. Francken, Marc Slors
Commonsense cognitive concepts (CCCs) are the concepts used in daily life to explain, predict and interpret behaviour. CCCs are also used to convey neuroscientific results, not only to wider audiences but also to the scientific inner circle. We show that translations from CCCs to brain activity, and from brain data to CCCs are made in implicit, loose and unsystematic ways. This results in hard...