Coupling the State and Contents of Consciousness
Jaan Aru, Mototaka Suzuki, Renate Rutiku, Matthew E Larkum, Talis Bachmann
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience August 30, 2019 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2019.00043 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Proposes that both the state and contents of consciousness depend on the activity of cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons, which couple cortico-cortical and thalamo-cortical loops. |
Abstract
One fundamental feature of consciousness is that the contents of consciousness depend on the state of consciousness. Here, we propose an answer to why this is so: both the state and the contents of consciousness depend on the activity of cortical layer 5 pyramidal (L5p) neurons. These neurons affect both cortical and thalamic processing, hence coupling the cortico-cortical and thalamo-cortical loops with each other. Functionally this coupling corresponds to the coupling between the state and the contents of consciousness. Together the cortico-cortical and thalamo-cortical loops form a thalamo-cortical broadcasting system, where the L5p cells are the central elements. This perspective makes one quite specific prediction: cortical processing that does not include L5p neurons will be unconscious. More generally, the present perspective suggests that L5p neurons have a central role in the mechanisms underlying consciousness.