A neuronal network model linking subjective reports and objective physiological data during conscious perception.
Stanislas Dehaene, Claire Sergent, Jean-Pierre Changeux
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America July 8, 2003 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1332574100 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Proposes that conscious perception (access awareness) arises when visual information enters a global brain state linking distant areas including prefrontal cortex, and predicts an all-or-none nonlinear transition from nonconscious to conscious processing, verified behaviorally in the attentional blink paradigm. |
Abstract
The subjective experience of perceiving visual stimuli is accompanied by objective neuronal activity patterns such as sustained activity in primary visual area (V1), amplification of perceptual processing, correlation across distant regions, joint parietal, frontal, and cingulate activation, gamma-band oscillations, and P300 waveform. We describe a neuronal network model that aims at explaining how those physiological parameters may cohere with conscious reports. The model proposes that the step of conscious perception, referred to as access awareness, is related to the entry of processed visual stimuli into a global brain state that links distant areas including the prefrontal cortex through reciprocal connections, and thus makes perceptual information reportable by multiple means. We use the model to simulate a classical psychological paradigm: the attentional blink. In addition to reproducing the main objective and subjective features of this paradigm, the model predicts an unique property of nonlinear transition from nonconscious processing to subjective perception. This all-or-none dynamics of conscious perception was verified behaviorally in human subjects.