Dissociable rhythmic mechanisms enhance memory for conscious and nonconscious perceptual contents.
Phillip Xin Cheng, Shrey Grover, Wen Wen, Shruthi Sankaranarayanan, Sierra Davies, Justine Fragetta, David Soto, Robert M G Reinhart
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences October 27, 2022 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2211147119 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Humans Unconsciousness Memory, short-term Visual perception Short-term memory Conscious awareness Unconscious processing Neural rhythms |
| Key findings | Beta-rhythm entrainment in bilateral visual areas enhanced short-term memory for consciously seen information, whereas alpha-rhythm entrainment in the same region enhanced short-term memory for unseen information. The effects were frequency-specific and long-lasting, which the authors argue provides a mechanistic basis for theories of consciousness and suggests possible nonpharmacological therapeutic targets. |
Abstract
Understanding the neural mechanisms of conscious and unconscious experience is a major goal of fundamental and translational neuroscience. Here, we target the early visual cortex with a protocol of noninvasive, high-resolution alternating current stimulation while participants performed a delayed target-probe discrimination task and reveal dissociable mechanisms of mnemonic processing for conscious and unconscious perceptual contents. Entraining β-rhythms in bilateral visual areas preferentially enhanced short-term memory for seen information, whereas α-entrainment in the same region preferentially enhanced short-term memory for unseen information. The short-term memory improvements were frequency-specific and long-lasting. The results add a mechanistic foundation to existing theories of consciousness, call for revisions to these theories, and contribute to the development of nonpharmacological therapeutics for improving visual cortical processing.
Citations in the library
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