A central question in consciousness theories is whether one is dealing with a dichotomous (“all-or-none”) or a gradual phenomenon. In this 7T fMRI study, we investigated whether dichotomy or gradualness in fact depends on the brain region associated with perceptual awareness reports. Both male and female human subjects performed an emotion discrimination task (fear vs neutral bodies) presented...
Traditionally, consciousness studies focus on domain general cognitive processes rather than on specific information reaching subjective awareness. The present study (N = 45) used visual masking and whole-body images to investigate whether the specific emotional expression as well as gender of the stimuli and of the participants impact awareness. Our results show that participants’ awareness...
Abstract Two major issues in consciousness research concern the measuring methods that determine perceptual unawareness and whether consciousness is a gradual or an ‘all-or-nothing’ phenomenon. This 7T fMRI study addresses both questions using a continuous flash suppression paradigm with an emotional recognition task (fear vs neutral bodies) in combination with the perceptual awareness scale....