Distilling the neural correlates of consciousness

  • Solving the problem of consciousness remains one of the biggest challenges in modern science. One key step towards understanding consciousness is to empirically narrow down neural processes associated with the subjective experience of a particular content. To unravel these neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) a common scientific strategy is to compare perceptual conditions in which consciousness of a particular content is present with those in which it is absent, and to determine differences in measures of brain activity (the so called "contrastive analysis"). However, this comparison appears not to reveal exclusively the NCC, as the NCC proper can be confounded with prerequisites for and consequences of conscious processing of the particular content. This implies that previous results cannot be unequivocally interpreted as reflecting the neural correlates of conscious experience. Here we review evidence supporting this conjecture and suggest experimental strategies to untangle the NCC from the prerequisites and consequences of conscious experience in order to further develop the otherwise valid and valuable contrastive methodology.

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Metadaten
Author:Jaan AruORCiDGND, Talis BachmannORCiDGND, Wolf SingerORCiDGND, Lucia MelloniORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-766518
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.003
ISSN:0149-7634
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22192881
Parent Title (English):Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher:Elsevier
Place of publication:Amsterdam
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2011/12/17
Date of first Publication:2011/12/17
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2024/03/18
Tag:Conscious perception; Contrastive analysis; Neural correlates of consciousness
Volume:36.2012
Issue:2
Page Number:10
First Page:737
Last Page:746
HeBIS-PPN:521817978
Institutes:Wissenschaftliche Zentren und koordinierte Programme / Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS)
Angeschlossene und kooperierende Institutionen / MPI für Hirnforschung
Dewey Decimal Classification:1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie
6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung-Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitung 4.0