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Chis-Ciure R, Melloni L, Northoff G. A measure centrality index for systematic empirical comparison of consciousness theories. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 161:105670. [PMID: 38615851 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Consciousness science is marred by disparate constructs and methodologies, making it challenging to systematically compare theories. This foundational crisis casts doubts on the scientific character of the field itself. Addressing it, we propose a framework for systematically comparing consciousness theories by introducing a novel inter-theory classification interface, the Measure Centrality Index (MCI). Recognizing its gradient distribution, the MCI assesses the degree of importance a specific empirical measure has for a given consciousness theory. We apply the MCI to probe how the empirical measures of the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNW), Integrated Information Theory (IIT), and Temporospatial Theory of Consciousness (TTC) would fare within the context of the other two. We demonstrate that direct comparison of IIT, GNW, and TTC is meaningful and valid for some measures like Lempel-Ziv Complexity (LZC), Autocorrelation Window (ACW), and possibly Mutual Information (MI). In contrast, it is problematic for others like the anatomical and physiological neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) due to their MCI-based differential weightings within the structure of the theories. In sum, we introduce and provide proof-of-principle of a novel systematic method for direct inter-theory empirical comparisons, thereby addressing isolated evolution of theories and confirmatory bias issues in the state-of-the-art neuroscience of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Chis-Ciure
- New York University (NYU), New York, USA; International Center for Neuroscience and Ethics (CINET), Tatiana Foundation, Madrid, Spain; Wolfram Physics Project, USA.
| | - Lucia Melloni
- Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Georg Northoff
- University of Ottawa, Institute of Mental Health Research at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada
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2
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Lane TJ, Liou TH, Kung YC, Tseng P, Wu CW. Functional blindsight and its diagnosis. Front Neurol 2024; 15:1207115. [PMID: 38385044 PMCID: PMC10879618 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1207115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Even when brain scans fail to detect a striate lesion, functional evidence for blindsight can be adduced. In the aftermath of an automobile accident, JK became blind. Results of ophthalmic exams indicated that the blindness must be cortical. Nevertheless, multiple MRI scans failed to detect structural damage to the striate cortex. Prior to the accident JK had been an athlete; after the accident he retained some athletic abilities, arousing suspicions that he might be engaged in fraud. His residual athletic abilities-e.g., hitting a handball or baseball, or catching a Frisbee-coupled with his experienced blindness, suggested blindsight. But due to the apparent absence of striate lesions, we designed a series of tasks for temporal and spatial dimensions in an attempt to detect functional evidence of his disability. Indeed, test results revealed compelling neural evidence that comport with his subjective reports. This spatiotemporal task-related method that includes contrasts with healthy controls, and detailed understanding of the patient's conscious experience, can be generalized for clinical, scientific and forensic investigations of blindsight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Joseph Lane
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Brain and Consciousness Research Centre, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Tsan-Hon Liou
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, TMU Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Chia Kung
- Department of Radiology, National Defense Medical Center, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Taiwan Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Philip Tseng
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Brain and Consciousness Research Centre, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Research Center for Mind, Brain and Learning, National Chengchi University, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Changwei W. Wu
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- Brain and Consciousness Research Centre, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan
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3
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Sivroni S, Sloin HE, Stark E. Short-term auditory priming in freely-moving mice. iScience 2023; 26:107847. [PMID: 37736050 PMCID: PMC10509352 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Priming, a change in the mental processing of a stimulus as a result of prior encounter with a related stimulus, has been observed repeatedly and studied extensively in humans. Yet currently, there is no behavioral model of short-term priming in lab animals, precluding research on the neurobiological basis of priming. Here, we describe an auditory discrimination paradigm for studying response priming in freely moving mice. We find a priming effect in success rate in all mice tested on the task. In contrast, we do not find a priming effect in response times. Compared to non-primed discrimination trials, the addition of incongruent prime stimuli reduces success rate more than congruent prime stimuli, suggesting a cognitive mechanism based on differential interference. The results establish the short-term priming phenomenon in rodents, and the paradigm opens the door to studying the cellular-network basis of priming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shir Sivroni
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Department of Mathematics, Afeka-Tel Aviv College of Engineering, Tel-Aviv 6910717, Israel
- Department of Mathematics, The Open University of Israel, Ra’anana 4353701, Israel
| | - Hadas E. Sloin
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Eran Stark
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, Haifa University, Haifa 3103301, Israel
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Owen M, Huang Z, Duclos C, Lavazza A, Grasso M, Hudetz AG. Theoretical Neurobiology of Consciousness Applied to Human Cerebral Organoids. Camb Q Healthc Ethics 2023:1-21. [PMID: 37850471 DOI: 10.1017/s0963180123000543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
Organoids and specifically human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are one of the most relevant novelties in the field of biomedical research. Grown either from embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells, HCOs can be used as in vitro three-dimensional models, mimicking the developmental process and organization of the developing human brain. Based on that, and despite their current limitations, it cannot be assumed that they will never at any stage of development manifest some rudimentary form of consciousness. In the absence of behavioral indicators of consciousness, the theoretical neurobiology of consciousness being applied to unresponsive brain-injured patients can be considered with respect to HCOs. In clinical neurology, it is difficult to discern a capacity for consciousness in unresponsive brain-injured patients who provide no behavioral indicators of consciousness. In such scenarios, a validated neurobiological theory of consciousness, which tells us what the neural mechanisms of consciousness are, could be used to identify a capacity for consciousness. Like the unresponsive patients that provide a diagnostic difficulty for neurologists, HCOs provide no behavioral indicators of consciousness. Therefore, this article discusses how three prominent neurobiological theories of consciousness apply to human cerebral organoids. From the perspective of the Temporal Circuit Hypothesis, the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory, and the Integrated Information Theory, we discuss what neuronal structures and functions might indicate that cerebral organoids have a neurobiological capacity to be conscious.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Owen
- Philosophy Department, Yakima Valley College, Yakima, WA, USA
- Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Zirui Huang
- Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Catherine Duclos
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) du Nord-de-l'île-de-Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
- CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars Program, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Andrea Lavazza
- Centro Universitario Internazionale, Arezzo, Italy
- University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Matteo Grasso
- Center for Sleep and Consciousness, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Anthony G Hudetz
- Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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5
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Xiong YS, Donoghue JA, Lundqvist M, Mahnke M, Major AJ, Brown EN, Miller EK, Bastos AM. Propofol-mediated loss of consciousness disrupts predictive routing and local field phase modulation of neural activity. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.02.555990. [PMID: 37732234 PMCID: PMC10508719 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.02.555990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Predictive coding is a fundamental function of the cortex. The predictive routing model proposes a neurophysiological implementation for predictive coding. Predictions are fed back from deep-layer cortex via alpha/beta (8-30Hz) oscillations. They inhibit the gamma (40-100Hz) and spiking that feed sensory inputs forward. Unpredicted inputs arrive in circuits unprepared by alpha/beta, resulting in enhanced gamma and spiking. To test the predictive routing model and its role in consciousness, we collected data from intracranial recordings of macaque monkeys during passive presentation of auditory oddballs (e.g., AAAAB) before and after propofol-mediated loss of consciousness (LOC). In line with the predictive routing model, alpha/beta oscillations in the awake state served to inhibit the processing of predictable stimuli. Propofol-mediated LOC eliminated alpha/beta modulation by a predictable stimulus in sensory cortex and alpha/beta coherence between sensory and frontal areas. As a result, oddball stimuli evoked enhanced gamma power, late (> 200 ms from stimulus onset) period spiking, and superficial layer sinks in sensory cortex. Therefore, auditory cortex was in a disinhibited state during propofol-mediated LOC. However, despite these enhanced feedforward responses in auditory cortex, there was a loss of differential spiking to oddballs in higher order cortex. This may be a consequence of a loss of within-area and inter-area spike-field coupling in the alpha/beta and gamma frequency bands. These results provide strong constraints for current theories of consciousness. Significance statement Neurophysiology studies have found alpha/beta oscillations (8-30Hz), gamma oscillations (40-100Hz), and spiking activity during cognition. Alpha/beta power has an inverse relationship with gamma power/spiking. This inverse relationship suggests that gamma/spiking are under the inhibitory control of alpha/beta. The predictive routing model hypothesizes that alpha/beta oscillations selectively inhibit (and thereby control) cortical activity that is predictable. We tested whether this inhibitory control is a signature of consciousness. We used multi-area neurophysiology recordings in monkeys presented with tone sequences that varied in predictability. We recorded brain activity as the anesthetic propofol was administered to manipulate consciousness. Compared to conscious processing, propofol-mediated unconsciousness disrupted alpha/beta inhibitory control during predictive processing. This led to a disinhibition of gamma/spiking, consistent with the predictive routing model.
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Becerra D, Calixto A, Orio P. The Conscious Nematode: Exploring Hallmarks of Minimal Phenomenal Consciousness in Caenorhabditis Elegans. Int J Psychol Res (Medellin) 2023; 16:87-104. [PMID: 38106963 PMCID: PMC10723751 DOI: 10.21500/20112084.6487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
While subcellular components of cognition and affectivity that involve the interaction between experience, environment, and physiology -such as learning, trauma, or emotion- are being identified, the physical mechanisms of phenomenal consciousness remain more elusive. We are interested in exploring whether ancient, simpler organisms such as nematodes have minimal consciousness. Is there something that feels like to be a worm? Or are worms blind machines? 'Simpler' models allow us to simultaneously extract data from multiple levels such as slow and fast neural dynamics, structural connectivity, molecular dynamics, behavior, decision making, etc., and thus, to test predictions of the current frameworks in dispute. In the present critical review, we summarize the current models of consciousness in order to reassess in light of the new evidence whether Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode with a nervous system composed of 302 neurons, has minimal consciousness. We also suggest empirical paths to further advance consciousness research using C. elegans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Becerra
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso (CINV), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.Universidad de ValparaísoUniversidad de ValparaísoValparaísoChile
- Doctorado en Ciencias, mención Biofísica y Biología Computacional, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.Universidad de ValparaísoUniversidad de ValparaísoValparaísoChile
| | - Andrea Calixto
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso (CINV), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.Universidad de ValparaísoUniversidad de ValparaísoValparaísoChile
- Instituto de Neurociencia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.Universidad de ValparaísoUniversidad de ValparaísoValparaísoChile
| | - Patricio Orio
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso (CINV), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.Universidad de ValparaísoUniversidad de ValparaísoValparaísoChile
- Instituto de Neurociencia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.Universidad de ValparaísoUniversidad de ValparaísoValparaísoChile
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7
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Farisco M, Changeux JP. About the compatibility between the perturbational complexity index and the global neuronal workspace theory of consciousness. Neurosci Conscious 2023; 2023:niad016. [PMID: 37342235 PMCID: PMC10279414 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niad016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper investigates the compatibility between the theoretical framework of the global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT) of conscious processing and the perturbational complexity index (PCI). Even if it has been introduced within the framework of a concurrent theory (i.e. Integrated Information Theory), PCI appears, in principle, compatible with the main tenet of GNWT, which is a conscious process that depends on a long-range connection between different cortical regions, more specifically on the amplification, global propagation, and integration of brain signals. Notwithstanding this basic compatibility, a number of limited compatibilities and apparent differences emerge. This paper starts from the description of brain complexity, a notion that is crucial for PCI, to then summary of the main features of PCI and the main tenets of GNWT. Against this background, the text explores the compatibility between PCI and GNWT. It concludes that GNWT and PCI are fundamentally compatible, even though there are some partial disagreements and some points to further examine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Farisco
- *Corresponding author. Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB), Uppsala University, Box 564, Uppsala SE-751 22. E-mail:
| | - Jean-Pierre Changeux
- Neuroscience Department, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Dr Roux, Paris 75015, France
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Li A, Liu H, Lei X, He Y, Wu Q, Yan Y, Zhou X, Tian X, Peng Y, Huang S, Li K, Wang M, Sun Y, Yan H, Zhang C, He S, Han R, Wang X, Liu B. Hierarchical fluctuation shapes a dynamic flow linked to states of consciousness. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3238. [PMID: 37277338 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38972-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Consciousness arises from the spatiotemporal neural dynamics, however, its relationship with neural flexibility and regional specialization remains elusive. We identified a consciousness-related signature marked by shifting spontaneous fluctuations along a unimodal-transmodal cortical axis. This simple signature is sensitive to altered states of consciousness in single individuals, exhibiting abnormal elevation under psychedelics and in psychosis. The hierarchical dynamic reflects brain state changes in global integration and connectome diversity under task-free conditions. Quasi-periodic pattern detection revealed that hierarchical heterogeneity as spatiotemporally propagating waves linking to arousal. A similar pattern can be observed in macaque electrocorticography. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of principal cortical gradient preferentially recapitulated the genetic transcription levels of the histaminergic system and that of the functional connectome mapping of the tuberomammillary nucleus, which promotes wakefulness. Combining behavioral, neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and transcriptomic evidence, we propose that global consciousness is supported by efficient hierarchical processing constrained along a low-dimensional macroscale gradient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ang Li
- State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
| | - Haiyang Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100101, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, Qinghai Provincial Traffic Hospital, Xining, 810001, China
| | - Xu Lei
- Sleep and Neuroimaging Center, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Yini He
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Qian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Yan Yan
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Xin Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Xiaohan Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Yingjie Peng
- State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Shangzheng Huang
- State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Kaixin Li
- State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Meng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Yuqing Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Hao Yan
- Peking University Sixth Hospital/Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, 100191, China
- NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Cheng Zhang
- The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, 100034, China
| | - Sheng He
- State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Ruquan Han
- Department of Anesthesiology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100101, China.
| | - Xiaoqun Wang
- State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
| | - Bing Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, 102206, China.
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9
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Zilio F, Lavazza A. Consciousness in a Rotor? Science and Ethics of Potentially Conscious Human Cerebral Organoids. AJOB Neurosci 2023; 14:178-196. [PMID: 36794285 DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2173329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Human cerebral organoids are three-dimensional biological cultures grown in the laboratory to mimic as closely as possible the cellular composition, structure, and function of the corresponding organ, the brain. For now, cerebral organoids lack blood vessels and other characteristics of the human brain, but are also capable of having coordinated electrical activity. They have been usefully employed for the study of several diseases and the development of the nervous system in unprecedented ways. Research on human cerebral organoids is proceeding at a very fast pace and their complexity is bound to improve. This raises the question of whether cerebral organoids will also be able to develop the unique feature of the human brain, consciousness. If this is the case, some ethical issues would arise. In this article, we discuss the necessary neural correlates and constraints for the emergence of consciousness according to some of the most debated neuroscientific theories. Based on this, we consider what the moral status of a potentially conscious brain organoid might be, in light of ethical and ontological arguments. We conclude by proposing a precautionary principle and some leads for further investigation. In particular, we consider the outcomes of some very recent experiments as entities of a potential new kind.
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Huntley J, Bor D, Deng F, Mancuso M, Mediano PAM, Naci L, Owen AM, Rocchi L, Sternin A, Howard R. Assessing awareness in severe Alzheimer's disease. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 16:1035195. [PMID: 36819296 PMCID: PMC9930987 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1035195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
There is an urgent need to understand the nature of awareness in people with severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) to ensure effective person-centered care. Objective biomarkers of awareness validated in other clinical groups (e.g., anesthesia, minimally conscious states) offer an opportunity to investigate awareness in people with severe AD. In this article we demonstrate the feasibility of using Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with EEG, event related potentials (ERPs) and fMRI to assess awareness in severe AD. TMS-EEG was performed in six healthy older controls and three people with severe AD. The perturbational complexity index (PCIST) was calculated as a measure of capacity for conscious awareness. People with severe AD demonstrated a PCIST around or below the threshold for consciousness, suggesting reduced capacity for consciousness. ERPs were recorded during a visual perception paradigm. In response to viewing faces, two patients with severe AD provisionally demonstrated similar visual awareness negativity to healthy controls. Using a validated fMRI movie-viewing task, independent component analysis in two healthy controls and one patient with severe AD revealed activation in auditory, visual and fronto-parietal networks. Activation patterns in fronto-parietal networks did not significantly correlate between the patient and controls, suggesting potential differences in conscious awareness and engagement with the movie. Although methodological issues remain, these results demonstrate the feasibility of using objective measures of awareness in severe AD. We raise a number of challenges and research questions that should be addressed using these biomarkers of awareness in future studies to improve understanding and care for people with severe AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Huntley
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Bor
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Feng Deng
- School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Global Brain Health Institute, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Marco Mancuso
- Human Neuroscience Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Pedro A. M. Mediano
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Lorina Naci
- School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Global Brain Health Institute, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Adrian M. Owen
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Lorenzo Rocchi
- Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Avital Sternin
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Robert Howard
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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11
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Fesce R. Imagination: The dawn of consciousness: Fighting some misconceptions in the discussion about consciousness. Physiol Behav 2023; 259:114035. [PMID: 36403782 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.114035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Several theories of consciousness (ToC) have been proposed, but it is hard to integrate them into a consensus theory. Each theory has its merits, in dealing with some aspects of the question, but the terminology is inconsistent, each ToC aims at answering a different question, and there is not even a reasonable agreement about what 'consciousness' is in the first place. Some common implicit assumptions, and the way some critical words - such as 'sensation', 'perception', 'neural correlate of consciousness' (NCC) - are thought to relate to consciousness, have introduced a series of misconceptions that make it difficult to pinpoint what consciousness consists in and how it arises in the brain. The purpose of this contribution is twofold: firstly, to discern the various steps that lead from the detection of a stimulus to a conscious experience, by redefining terms such as sensation and perception with an adequate operative meaning; secondly, to emphasize the inevitable contribution of emotions and the active role of imagination in this process. The diffuse view, for the layperson but among scientists as well, is that the brain produces an internal 'representation' of the external reality and of oneself. This tends to consign one to a Cartesian perspective, i.e., the idea that some entity must be there to witness and interpret such representation. This approach splits the conscious experience into brain activity, which generates a (possible) content of consciousness (still unconscious), and a vaguely defined entity or process that 'generates' consciousness and injects (or sheds the light of) consciousness onto the content of brain activity. This way, however, we learn nothing about how such consciousness would arise. We propose here that consciousness is the function that generates a subjectively relevant and emotionally coloured internal image of the experience one is living. In this process, endogenous, spontaneous activity (imaginative activity, consisting in recalling and reviving memories, prefiguring consequences, analysing conjectures) produces many vague and ambiguous hints, rich of symbolic links, which compete in giving rise to an implicit, emotionally characterized, and semantically pleiotropic, internal experience. Cognitive elaboration may extract from this a defined and univocal, complete and consistent, explicit experience, that can be verbally reported ('what it is like to...').
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Fesce
- Department of Biomedical Sciences - Humanitas University Medical School.
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12
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Zhang J, Yin M, Shu D, Liu D. The establishment of the general microexpression recognition ability and its relevant brain activity. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:894702. [PMID: 36569473 PMCID: PMC9774033 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.894702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Microexpressions are very transitory expressions lasting about 1/25∼1/2 s, which can reveal people's true emotions they try to hide or suppress. The PREMERT (pseudorandom ecological microexpression recognition test) could test the individual's microexpression recognition ability with six microexpression Ms (the mean of accuracy rates of a microexpression type under six expression backgrounds), and six microexpression SDs (the standard deviation of accuracy rates of this microexpression type under six expression backgrounds), but it and other studies did not explore the general microexpression recognition ability (the GMERA) or could not test the GMERA effectively. Therefore, the current study put forward and established the GMERA with the behavioral data of the PREMERT. The spontaneous brain activity in the resting state is a stable index to measure individual cognitive characteristics. Therefore, the current study explored the relevant resting-state brain activity of the GMERA indicators to prove that GMERA is an individual cognitive characteristic from brain mechanisms with the neuroimaging data of the PREMERT. The results showed that (1) there was a three-layer hierarchical structure in human microexpression recognition ability: The GMERA (the highest layer); recognition of a type of microexpression under different expression backgrounds (the second layer); and recognition of a certain microexpression under a certain expression background (the third layer). A common factor GMERA was extracted from the six microexpression types recognition in PREMERT. Four indicators of the GMERA were calculated from six microexpression Ms and six microexpression SDs, such as GMERAL (level of GMERA), GMERAF (fluctuation of GMERA), GMERAB (background effect of GMERA), and GMERABF (fluctuation of GMERAB), which had good parallel-forms reliability, calibration validity, and ecological validity. The GMERA provided a concise and comprehensive overview of the individual's microexpression recognition ability. The PREMERT was proved as a good test to measure the GMERA. (2) ALFFs (the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations) in both eyes-closed and eyes-opened resting-states and ALFFs-difference could predict the four indicators of the GMERA. The relevant resting-state brain areas were some areas of the expression recognition network, the microexpression consciousness and attention network, and the motor network for the change from expression backgrounds to microexpression. (3) The relevant brain areas of the GMERA and different types of microexpression recognition belonged to the three cognitive processes, but the relevant brain areas of the GMERA were the "higher-order" areas to be more concise and critical than those of different types of microexpression recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianxin Zhang
- Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Microexpression Intelligent Sensing and Security Prevention and Control, Nanjing, China,School of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Ming Yin
- Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Microexpression Intelligent Sensing and Security Prevention and Control, Nanjing, China,Jiangsu Police Institute, Nanjing, China
| | - Deming Shu
- School of Education, Soochow University, Soochow, China,*Correspondence: Deming Shu,
| | - Dianzhi Liu
- School of Education, Soochow University, Soochow, China,*Correspondence: Deming Shu,
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13
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Li S, Chen Y, Ren P, Li Z, Zhang J, Liang X. Highly connected and highly variable: A Core brain network during resting state supports Propofol-induced unconsciousness. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:841-853. [PMID: 36217733 PMCID: PMC9842907 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite that leading theories of consciousness make diverging predictions for where and how neural activity gives rise to subjective experience, they all seem to partially agree that the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) require globally integrated brain activity across a network of functionally specialized modules. However, it is not clear yet whether such functional configurations would be able to identify the NCC. We scanned resting-state fMRI data from 21 subjects during wakefulness, propofol-induced sedation, and anesthesia. Graph-theoretical analyses were conducted on awake fMRI data to search for the NCC candidates as brain regions that exhibit both high rich-clubness and high modular variability, which were found to locate in prefrontal and temporoparietal cortices. Another independent data set of 10 highly-sampled subjects was used to validate the NCC distribution at the individual level. Brain module-based dynamic analysis revealed two discrete reoccurring brain states, one of which was dominated by the NCC candidates (state 1), while the other state was predominately composed of primary sensory/motor regions (state 2). Moreover, state 1 appeared to be temporally more stable than state 2, suggesting that the identified NCC members could sustain conscious content as metastable network representations. Finally, we showed that the identified NCC was modulated in terms of functional connectedness and modular variability in response to the loss of consciousness induced by propofol anesthesia. This work offers a framework to search for neural correlates of consciousness by charting the brain network topology and provides new insights into understanding the roles of different regions in underpinning human consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Li
- School of Life Science and TechnologyHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinChina,Laboratory for Space Environment and Physical SciencesHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinChina
| | - Yali Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Cancer CenterFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Peng Ren
- School of Life Science and TechnologyHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinChina
| | - Zhipeng Li
- School of Life Science and TechnologyHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinChina,Laboratory for Space Environment and Physical SciencesHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinChina
| | - Jun Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Cancer CenterFudan UniversityShanghaiChina,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical CollegeFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Xia Liang
- School of Life Science and TechnologyHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinChina,Laboratory for Space Environment and Physical SciencesHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinChina
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14
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Panda R, Thibaut A, Lopez-Gonzalez A, Escrichs A, Bahri MA, Hillebrand A, Deco G, Laureys S, Gosseries O, Annen J, Tewarie P. Disruption in structural-functional network repertoire and time-resolved subcortical fronto-temporoparietal connectivity in disorders of consciousness. eLife 2022; 11:77462. [PMID: 35916363 PMCID: PMC9385205 DOI: 10.7554/elife.77462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding recovery of consciousness and elucidating its underlying mechanism is believed to be crucial in the field of basic neuroscience and medicine. Ideas such as the global neuronal workspace (GNW) and the mesocircuit theory hypothesize that failure of recovery in conscious states coincide with loss of connectivity between subcortical and frontoparietal areas, a loss of the repertoire of functional networks states and metastable brain activation. We adopted a time-resolved functional connectivity framework to explore these ideas and assessed the repertoire of functional network states as a potential marker of consciousness and its potential ability to tell apart patients in the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and minimally conscious state (MCS). In addition, the prediction of these functional network states by underlying hidden spatial patterns in the anatomical network, that is so-called eigenmodes, was supplemented as potential markers. By analysing time-resolved functional connectivity from functional MRI data, we demonstrated a reduction of metastability and functional network repertoire in UWS compared to MCS patients. This was expressed in terms of diminished dwell times and loss of nonstationarity in the default mode network and subcortical fronto-temporoparietal network in UWS compared to MCS patients. We further demonstrated that these findings co-occurred with a loss of dynamic interplay between structural eigenmodes and emerging time-resolved functional connectivity in UWS. These results are, amongst others, in support of the GNW theory and the mesocircuit hypothesis, underpinning the role of time-resolved thalamo-cortical connections and metastability in the recovery of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ane Lopez-Gonzalez
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Mohamed Ali Bahri
- GIGA-Cyclotron Research Centre-In Vivo Imaging, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Arjan Hillebrand
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Gustavo Deco
- Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | - Jitka Annen
- Coma Science Group, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Prejaas Tewarie
- School of Physics, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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15
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Blum L, Blum M. A theory of consciousness from a theoretical computer science perspective: Insights from the Conscious Turing Machine. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2115934119. [PMID: 35594400 PMCID: PMC9171770 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2115934119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper examines consciousness from the perspective of theoretical computer science (TCS), a branch of mathematics concerned with understanding the underlying principles of computation and complexity, including the implications and surprising consequences of resource limitations. We propose a formal TCS model, the Conscious Turing Machine (CTM). The CTM is influenced by Alan Turing's simple yet powerful model of computation, the Turing machine (TM), and by the global workspace theory (GWT) of consciousness originated by cognitive neuroscientist Bernard Baars and further developed by him, Stanislas Dehaene, Jean-Pierre Changeux, George Mashour, and others. Phenomena generally associated with consciousness, such as blindsight, inattentional blindness, change blindness, dream creation, and free will, are considered. Explanations derived from the model draw confirmation from consistencies at a high level, well above the level of neurons, with the cognitive neuroscience literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lenore Blum
- Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Manuel Blum
- Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
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16
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Browning H, Birch J. Animal sentience. PHILOSOPHY COMPASS 2022; 17:e12822. [PMID: 35859762 PMCID: PMC9285591 DOI: 10.1111/phc3.12822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
'Sentience' sometimes refers to the capacity for any type of subjective experience, and sometimes to the capacity to have subjective experiences with a positive or negative valence, such as pain or pleasure. We review recent controversies regarding sentience in fish and invertebrates and consider the deep methodological challenge posed by these cases. We then present two ways of responding to the challenge. In a policy-making context, precautionary thinking can help us treat animals appropriately despite continuing uncertainty about their sentience. In a scientific context, we can draw inspiration from the science of human consciousness to disentangle conscious and unconscious perception (especially vision) in animals. Developing better ways to disentangle conscious and unconscious affect is a key priority for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Browning
- Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social ScienceLondon School of Economics and Political ScienceLondonUK
| | - Jonathan Birch
- Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social ScienceLondon School of Economics and Political ScienceLondonUK
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17
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Mazor M, Dijkstra N, Fleming SM. Dissociating the Neural Correlates of Subjective Visibility from Those of Decision Confidence. J Neurosci 2022; 42:2562-2569. [PMID: 35121637 PMCID: PMC8944226 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1220-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A key goal of consciousness science is identifying neural signatures of being aware versus unaware of simple stimuli. This is often investigated in the context of near-threshold detection, with reports of stimulus awareness being linked to heightened activation in a frontoparietal network. However, because of reports of stimulus presence typically being associated with higher confidence than reports of stimulus absence, these results could be explained by frontoparietal regions encoding stimulus visibility, decision confidence, or both. In an exploratory analysis, we leverage fMRI data from 35 human participants (20 females) to disentangle these possibilities. We first show that, whereas stimulus identity was best decoded from the visual cortex, stimulus visibility (presence vs absence) was best decoded from prefrontal regions. To control for effects of confidence, we then selectively sampled trials before decoding to equalize confidence distributions between absence and presence responses. This analysis revealed striking differences in the neural correlates of subjective visibility in PFC ROIs, depending on whether or not differences in confidence were controlled for. We interpret our findings as highlighting the importance of controlling for metacognitive aspects of the decision process in the search for neural correlates of visual awareness.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT While much has been learned over the past two decades about the neural basis of visual awareness, the role of the PFC remains a topic of debate. By applying decoding analyses to functional brain imaging data, we show that prefrontal representations of subjective visibility are contaminated by neural correlates of decision confidence. We propose a new analysis method to control for these metacognitive aspects of awareness reports, and use it to reveal confidence-independent correlates of perceptual judgments in a subset of prefrontal areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matan Mazor
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nadine Dijkstra
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen M Fleming
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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18
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Coppola P, Spindler LRB, Luppi AI, Adapa R, Naci L, Allanson J, Finoia P, Williams GB, Pickard JD, Owen AM, Menon DK, Stamatakis EA. Network dynamics scale with levels of awareness. Neuroimage 2022; 254:119128. [PMID: 35331869 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Small world topologies are thought to provide a valuable insight into human brain organisation and consciousness. However, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in consciousness have not yielded consistent results. Given the importance of dynamics for both consciousness and cognition, here we investigate how the diversity of small world dynamics (quantified by sample entropy; dSW-E1) scales with decreasing levels of awareness (i.e., sedation and disorders of consciousness). Paying particular attention to result reproducibility, we show that dSW-E is a consistent predictor of levels of awareness even when controlling for the underlying functional connectivity dynamics. We find that dSW-E of subcortical and cortical areas are predictive, with the former showing higher and more robust effect sizes across analyses. We find that the network dynamics of intermodular communication in the cerebellum also have unique predictive power for levels of awareness. Consequently, we propose that the dynamic reorganisation of the functional information architecture, in particular of the subcortex, is a characteristic that emerges with awareness and has explanatory power beyond that of the complexity of dynamic functional connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Coppola
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Lennart R B Spindler
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Andrea I Luppi
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Ram Adapa
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Lorina Naci
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Judith Allanson
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Neurosciences, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Hills Rd., Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Paola Finoia
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Guy B Williams
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - John D Pickard
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Adrian M Owen
- The Brain and Mind Institute, Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - David K Menon
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Emmanuel A Stamatakis
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
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19
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Arena A, Juel BE, Comolatti R, Thon S, Storm JF. Capacity for consciousness under ketamine anaesthesia is selectively associated with activity in posteromedial cortex in rats. Neurosci Conscious 2022; 2022:niac004. [PMID: 35261778 PMCID: PMC8896332 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niac004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Revised: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
It remains unclear how specific cortical regions contribute to the brain’s overall capacity for consciousness. Clarifying this could help distinguish between theories of consciousness. Here, we investigate the association between markers of regionally specific (de)activation and the brain’s overall capacity for consciousness. We recorded electroencephalographic responses to cortical electrical stimulation in six rats and computed Perturbational Complexity Index state-transition (PCIST), which has been extensively validated as an index of the capacity for consciousness in humans. We also estimated the balance between activation and inhibition of specific cortical areas with the ratio between high and low frequency power from spontaneous electroencephalographic activity at each electrode. We repeated these measurements during wakefulness, and during two levels of ketamine anaesthesia: with the minimal dose needed to induce behavioural unresponsiveness and twice this dose. We found that PCIST was only slightly reduced from wakefulness to light ketamine anaesthesia, but dropped significantly with deeper anaesthesia. The high-dose effect was selectively associated with reduced high frequency/low frequency ratio in the posteromedial cortex, which strongly correlated with PCIST. Conversely, behavioural unresponsiveness induced by light ketamine anaesthesia was associated with similar spectral changes in frontal, but not posterior cortical regions. Thus, activity in the posteromedial cortex correlates with the capacity for consciousness, as assessed by PCIST, during different depths of ketamine anaesthesia, in rats, independently of behaviour. These results are discussed in relation to different theories of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Arena
- Brain Signalling Group, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Sognsvannsveien 9, Oslo 0372, Norway
| | - B E Juel
- Brain Signalling Group, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Sognsvannsveien 9, Oslo 0372, Norway
- Center for Sleep and Consciousness, University of Wisconsin, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI 53719, USA
| | - R Comolatti
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences “L. Sacco”, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi 74, Milano 20157, Italy
| | - S Thon
- Brain Signalling Group, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Sognsvannsveien 9, Oslo 0372, Norway
| | - J F Storm
- Brain Signalling Group, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Sognsvannsveien 9, Oslo 0372, Norway
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20
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Sawicki J, Hartmann L, Bader R, Schöll E. Modelling the perception of music in brain network dynamics. FRONTIERS IN NETWORK PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 2:910920. [PMID: 36926090 PMCID: PMC10013054 DOI: 10.3389/fnetp.2022.910920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
We analyze the influence of music in a network of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with empirical structural connectivity measured in healthy human subjects. We report an increase of coherence between the global dynamics in our network and the input signal induced by a specific music song. We show that the level of coherence depends crucially on the frequency band. We compare our results with experimental data, which also describe global neural synchronization between different brain regions in the gamma-band range in a time-dependent manner correlated with musical large-scale form, showing increased synchronization just before transitions between different parts in a musical piece (musical high-level events). The results also suggest a separation in musical form-related brain synchronization between high brain frequencies, associated with neocortical activity, and low frequencies in the range of dance movements, associated with interactivity between cortical and subcortical regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakub Sawicki
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany.,Institut für Musikpädagogik, Universität der Künste Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW, Basel, Switzerland.,Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lenz Hartmann
- Institute of Systematic Musicology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Rolf Bader
- Institute of Systematic Musicology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Eckehard Schöll
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany.,Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany
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21
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Searching for the principles of a less artificial A.I. INFORMATICS IN MEDICINE UNLOCKED 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.imu.2022.101018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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22
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Bachmann T. Representational 'touch' and modulatory 'retouch'-two necessary neurobiological processes in thalamocortical interaction for conscious experience. Neurosci Conscious 2021; 2021:niab045. [PMID: 34925911 PMCID: PMC8672242 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niab045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Theories of consciousness using neurobiological data or being influenced by these data have been focused either on states of consciousness or contents of consciousness. These theories have occasionally used evidence from psychophysical phenomena where conscious experience is a dependent experimental variable. However, systematic catalog of many such relevant phenomena has not been offered in terms of these theories. In the perceptual retouch theory of thalamocortical interaction, recently developed to become a blend with the dendritic integration theory, consciousness states and contents of consciousness are explained by the same mechanism. This general-purpose mechanism has modulation of the cortical layer-5 pyramidal neurons that represent contents of consciousness as its core. As a surplus, many experimental psychophysical phenomena of conscious perception can be explained by the workings of this mechanism. Historical origins and current views inherent in this theory are presented and reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talis Bachmann
- Department of Penal Law, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Law, University of Tartu (Tallinn Branch), Kaarli puiestee 3, Tallinn 10119, Estonia
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23
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Rudrauf D, Sergeant-Perthuis G, Belli O, Tisserand Y, Di Marzo Serugendo G. Modeling the subjective perspective of consciousness and its role in the control of behaviours. J Theor Biol 2021; 534:110957. [PMID: 34742776 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Consciousness has been hypothesized to operate as a global workspace, which accesses and integrates multimodal information in a uni_ed manner, supports expectation violation monitoring and reduction, and the motivation, programming and control of action. One important yet open issue concerns how the subjective perspective at the core of consciousness, and subjective properties of manifestation of the environment in such perspective as an embodied experience, play a role in such process. We operationalised the concept of subjective perspective using the principles of the Projective Consciousness Model (PCM), based on the projective geometrical concept of Field of Consciousness. We show how these principles can account for documented relationships between appraisal and distance as an inverse distance law, yield a generative model of a_ective and epistemic drives based on purely subjective parameters, such as the apparent size of objects, and can be generalised to implement Theory of Mind, in a manner that is consistent with simulation theory. We used simulations of arti_cial agents, based on psychological rationale, to demonstrate how different model parameters could generate a variety of emergent adaptive and maladaptive behaviours that are relevant to developmental and clinical psychology: the ability to be resilient in the face of obstacles through imaginary projections, the emergence of social approach and joint attention behaviours, the ability to take advantage of false beliefs attributed to others, the emergence of avoidance behaviours as observed in social anxiety disorders, the presence of restricted interests as observed in autism spectrum disorders. The simulation of agents was applied to a speci_c robotic context, and agents' behaviours were demonstrated by controlling the corresponding robots. Our results contribute to advance the scienti_c understanding of the causal relationships between core aspects of the phenomenology of consciousness and its functions in human cybernetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Rudrauf
- FPSE, Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Computer Science University Center, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - G Sergeant-Perthuis
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - O Belli
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Evolutio, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Y Tisserand
- FPSE, Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - G Di Marzo Serugendo
- Computer Science University Center, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; SDS, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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24
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Lavazza A. 'Consciousnessoids': clues and insights from human cerebral organoids for the study of consciousness. Neurosci Conscious 2021; 7:niab029. [PMID: 34729213 PMCID: PMC8557395 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niab029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are an in vitro three-dimensional model of early neural development, aimed at modelling and understanding brain development and neurological disorders. In just a few years, there has been a rapid and considerable progress in the attempt to create a brain model capable of showcasing the structure and functions of the human brain. There are still strong limitations to address, including the absence of vascularization that makes it difficult to feed the central layers of organoids. Nevertheless, some important features of the nervous system have recently been observed: HCOs manifest electrical activity, are sensitive to light stimulation and are able to connect to a spinal cord by sending impulses that make a muscle contract. Recent data show that cortical organoid network development at 10 months resembles some preterm babies' electroencephalography (EEG) patterns. In the light of the fast pace of research in this field, one might consider the hypothesis that HCOs might become a living laboratory for studying the emergence of consciousness and investigating its mechanisms and neural correlates. HCOs could be also a benchmark for different neuroscientific theories of consciousness. In this paper, I propose some potential lines of research and offer some clues and insights so as to use HCOs in trying to unveil some puzzles concerning our conscious states. Finally, I consider some relevant ethical issues regarding this specific experimentation on HCOs and conclude that some of them could require strict regulation in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Lavazza
- Centro Universitario Internazionale, Via Garbasso, 42, Arezzo 52100, Italy
- University of Pavia, Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, Piazza Botta, 11, Pavia 27100, Italy
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Del Pin SH, Skóra Z, Sandberg K, Overgaard M, Wierzchoń M. Comparing theories of consciousness: why it matters and how to do it. Neurosci Conscious 2021; 2021:niab019. [PMID: 34422317 PMCID: PMC8372971 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niab019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The theoretical landscape of scientific studies of consciousness has flourished. Today, even multiple versions of the same theory are sometimes available. To advance the field, these theories should be directly compared to determine which are better at predicting and explaining empirical data. Systematic inquiries of this sort are seen in many subfields in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, e.g. in working memory. Nonetheless, when we surveyed publications on consciousness research, we found that most focused on a single theory. When 'comparisons' happened, they were often verbal and non-systematic. This fact in itself could be a contributing reason for the lack of convergence between theories in consciousness research. In this paper, we focus on how to compare theories of consciousness to ensure that the comparisons are meaningful, e.g. whether their predictions are parallel or contrasting. We evaluate how theories are typically compared in consciousness research and related subdisciplines in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and we provide an example of our approach. We then examine the different reasons why direct comparisons between theories are rarely seen. One possible explanation is the unique nature of the consciousness phenomenon. We conclude that the field should embrace this uniqueness, and we set out the features that a theory of consciousness should account for.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Hviid Del Pin
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, Krakow 30-060, Poland
| | - Zuzanna Skóra
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, Krakow 30-060, Poland
| | - Kristian Sandberg
- Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus Universitet, Universitetsbyen 3, Building 1710, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
| | - Morten Overgaard
- Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus Universitet, Universitetsbyen 3, Building 1710, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
| | - Michał Wierzchoń
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, Krakow 30-060, Poland
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Luppi AI, Golkowski D, Ranft A, Ilg R, Jordan D, Menon DK, Stamatakis EA. Brain network integration dynamics are associated with loss and recovery of consciousness induced by sevoflurane. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:2802-2822. [PMID: 33738899 PMCID: PMC8127159 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The dynamic interplay of integration and segregation in the brain is at the core of leading theoretical accounts of consciousness. The human brain dynamically alternates between a sub-state where integration predominates, and a predominantly segregated sub-state, with different roles in supporting cognition and behaviour. Here, we combine graph theory and dynamic functional connectivity to compare resting-state functional MRI data from healthy volunteers before, during, and after loss of responsiveness induced with different concentrations of the inhalational anaesthetic, sevoflurane. We show that dynamic states characterised by high brain integration are especially vulnerable to general anaesthesia, exhibiting attenuated complexity and diminished small-world character. Crucially, these effects are reversed upon recovery, demonstrating their association with consciousness. Higher doses of sevoflurane (3% vol and burst-suppression) also compromise the temporal balance of integration and segregation in the human brain. Additionally, we demonstrate that reduced anticorrelations between the brain's default mode and executive control networks dynamically reconfigure depending on the brain's state of integration or segregation. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the integrated sub-state of brain connectivity is especially vulnerable to anaesthesia, in terms of both its complexity and information capacity, whose breakdown represents a generalisable biomarker of loss of consciousness and its recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea I. Luppi
- Division of AnaesthesiaUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Department of Clinical NeurosciencesUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Daniel Golkowski
- Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der IsarTechnische Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
| | - Andreas Ranft
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Klinikum rechts der IsarTechnische Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
| | - Rüdiger Ilg
- Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der IsarTechnische Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
- Department of NeurologyAsklepios ClinicBad TölzGermany
| | - Denis Jordan
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Klinikum rechts der IsarTechnische Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
| | - David K. Menon
- Division of AnaesthesiaUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Wolfon Brain Imaging CentreUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Emmanuel A. Stamatakis
- Division of AnaesthesiaUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Department of Clinical NeurosciencesUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
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Sattin D, Magnani FG, Bartesaghi L, Caputo M, Fittipaldo AV, Cacciatore M, Picozzi M, Leonardi M. Theoretical Models of Consciousness: A Scoping Review. Brain Sci 2021; 11:535. [PMID: 33923218 PMCID: PMC8146510 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11050535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The amount of knowledge on human consciousness has created a multitude of viewpoints and it is difficult to compare and synthesize all the recent scientific perspectives. Indeed, there are many definitions of consciousness and multiple approaches to study the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). Therefore, the main aim of this article is to collect data on the various theories of consciousness published between 2007-2017 and to synthesize them to provide a general overview of this topic. To describe each theory, we developed a thematic grid called the dimensional model, which qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes how each article, related to one specific theory, debates/analyzes a specific issue. Among the 1130 articles assessed, 85 full texts were included in the prefinal step. Finally, this scoping review analyzed 68 articles that described 29 theories of consciousness. We found heterogeneous perspectives in the theories analyzed. Those with the highest grade of variability are as follows: subjectivity, NCC, and the consciousness/cognitive function. Among sub-cortical structures, thalamus, basal ganglia, and the hippocampus were the most indicated, whereas the cingulate, prefrontal, and temporal areas were the most reported for cortical ones also including the thalamo-cortical system. Moreover, we found several definitions of consciousness and 21 new sub-classifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Sattin
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit—Scientific Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 20133 Milan, Italy; (F.G.M.); (L.B.); (M.C.); (M.C.); (M.L.)
- Experimental Medicine and Medical Humanities-PhD Program, Biotechnology and Life Sciences Department and Center for Clinical Ethics, Insubria University, 21100 Varese, Italy
| | - Francesca Giulia Magnani
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit—Scientific Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 20133 Milan, Italy; (F.G.M.); (L.B.); (M.C.); (M.C.); (M.L.)
| | - Laura Bartesaghi
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit—Scientific Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 20133 Milan, Italy; (F.G.M.); (L.B.); (M.C.); (M.C.); (M.L.)
| | - Milena Caputo
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit—Scientific Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 20133 Milan, Italy; (F.G.M.); (L.B.); (M.C.); (M.C.); (M.L.)
| | | | - Martina Cacciatore
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit—Scientific Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 20133 Milan, Italy; (F.G.M.); (L.B.); (M.C.); (M.C.); (M.L.)
| | - Mario Picozzi
- Center for Clinical Ethics, Biotechnology and Life Sciences Department, Insubria University, 21100 Varese, Italy;
| | - Matilde Leonardi
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit—Scientific Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 20133 Milan, Italy; (F.G.M.); (L.B.); (M.C.); (M.C.); (M.L.)
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Sattin D, Rossi Sebastiano D, Magnani FG, D'Incerti L, Marotta G, Benti R, Tirelli S, Bersano A, Duran D, Visani E, Ferraro S, Minati L, Nigri A, Rosazza C, Bianchi Marzoli S, Ciasca P, Carcagni A, Bruzzone MG, Franceschetti S, Leonardi M, Guido D. Visual fixation in disorders of consciousness: Development of predictive models to support differential diagnosis. Physiol Behav 2021; 230:113310. [PMID: 33412191 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 12/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The visual fixation represents a doubtful behavioral sign to discriminate Vegetative from Minimally Conscious State (MCS). To disentangle its meaning, we fitted univariate and multivariable logistic regression models matching different neurophysiological and neuroimaging data of 54 patients with Disorders of Consciousness to select the best model predicting which visual performance (visual blink or pursuit) was shown by patients and the best predictors set. The best models found highlighted the importance of the structural MRI and the visual evoked potentials data in predicting visual pursuit. Then, a qualitative pilot test was made on four patients showing visual fixation revealing that the obtained models correctly predict whether the patients' visual performance could support/correlate to a cognitively mediated behavior. The present pilot models could help clinicians to evaluate if the visual fixation response can support the MCS diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Sattin
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit - Coma Research Centre; Scientific Directorate, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Davide Rossi Sebastiano
- Neurophysiology and Diagnostic Epileptology Unit - Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta n, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Francesca Giulia Magnani
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit - Coma Research Centre; Scientific Directorate, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Ludovico D'Incerti
- Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Giorgio Marotta
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza 35, Milan, 20122, Italy; Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici (DISTUM), Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Bramante, 17, 61029 Urbino PU.
| | - Riccardo Benti
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza 35, Milan, 20122, Italy.
| | - Simone Tirelli
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit - Coma Research Centre; Scientific Directorate, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy
| | - Anna Bersano
- Neurology Unit, UCV, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Dunja Duran
- Neurophysiology and Diagnostic Epileptology Unit - Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta n, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Elisa Visani
- Neurophysiology and Diagnostic Epileptology Unit - Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta n, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Stefania Ferraro
- Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Ludovico Minati
- Direzione Scientifica, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Anna Nigri
- Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Cristina Rosazza
- Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy; Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici (DISTUM), Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Bramante, 17, 61029 Urbino PU.
| | - Stefania Bianchi Marzoli
- Neuro-Ophthalmology Center, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Scientific Institute Capitanio Hospital, via Mercalli, 28, Milan 20122, Italy.
| | - Paola Ciasca
- Neuro-Ophthalmology Center, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Scientific Institute Capitanio Hospital, via Mercalli, 28, Milan 20122, Italy.
| | - Antonella Carcagni
- Data Methods and Systems Statistical Laboratory, Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia, Contrada Santa Chiara, 50, Brescia, 25122, Italy.
| | - Maria Grazia Bruzzone
- Neuroradiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Silvana Franceschetti
- Neurophysiology and Diagnostic Epileptology Unit - Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta n, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Matilde Leonardi
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit - Coma Research Centre; Scientific Directorate, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
| | - Davide Guido
- Neurology, Public Health, Disability Unit - Coma Research Centre; Scientific Directorate, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, Milan, 20133, Italy.
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Luppi AI, Carhart-Harris RL, Roseman L, Pappas I, Menon DK, Stamatakis EA. LSD alters dynamic integration and segregation in the human brain. Neuroimage 2021; 227:117653. [PMID: 33338615 PMCID: PMC7896102 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Investigating changes in brain function induced by mind-altering substances such as LSD is a powerful method for interrogating and understanding how mind interfaces with brain, by connecting novel psychological phenomena with their neurobiological correlates. LSD is known to increase measures of brain complexity, potentially reflecting a neurobiological correlate of the especially rich phenomenological content of psychedelic-induced experiences. Yet although the subjective stream of consciousness is a constant ebb and flow, no studies to date have investigated how LSD influences the dynamics of functional connectivity in the human brain. Focusing on the two fundamental network properties of integration and segregation, here we combined graph theory and dynamic functional connectivity from resting-state functional MRI to examine time-resolved effects of LSD on brain networks properties and subjective experiences. Our main finding is that the effects of LSD on brain function and subjective experience are non-uniform in time: LSD makes globally segregated sub-states of dynamic functional connectivity more complex, and weakens the relationship between functional and anatomical connectivity. On a regional level, LSD reduces functional connectivity of the anterior medial prefrontal cortex, specifically during states of high segregation. Time-specific effects were correlated with different aspects of subjective experiences; in particular, ego dissolution was predicted by increased small-world organisation during a state of high global integration. These results reveal a more nuanced, temporally-specific picture of altered brain connectivity and complexity under psychedelics than has previously been reported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea I Luppi
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom.
| | - Robin L Carhart-Harris
- Center for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Science, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom
| | - Leor Roseman
- Center for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Science, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom
| | - Ioannis Pappas
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom
| | - David K Menon
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom
| | - Emmanuel A Stamatakis
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom
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How hot is the hot zone? Computational modelling clarifies the role of parietal and frontoparietal connectivity during anaesthetic-induced loss of consciousness. Neuroimage 2021; 231:117841. [PMID: 33577934 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, specific cortical networks have been proposed to be crucial for sustaining consciousness, including the posterior hot zone and frontoparietal resting state networks (RSN). Here, we computationally evaluate the relative contributions of three RSNs - the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SAL), and the central executive network (CEN) - to consciousness and its loss during propofol anaesthesia. Specifically, we use dynamic causal modelling (DCM) of 10 min of high-density EEG recordings (N = 10, 4 males) obtained during behavioural responsiveness, unconsciousness and post-anaesthetic recovery to characterise differences in effective connectivity within frontal areas, the posterior 'hot zone', frontoparietal connections, and between-RSN connections. We estimate - for the first time - a large DCM model (LAR) of resting EEG, combining the three RSNs into a rich club of interconnectivity. Consistent with the hot zone theory, our findings demonstrate reductions in inter-RSN connectivity in the parietal cortex. Within the DMN itself, the strongest reductions are in feed-forward frontoparietal and parietal connections at the precuneus node. Within the SAL and CEN, loss of consciousness generates small increases in bidirectional connectivity. Using novel DCM leave-one-out cross-validation, we show that the most consistent out-of-sample predictions of the state of consciousness come from a key set of frontoparietal connections. This finding also generalises to unseen data collected during post-anaesthetic recovery. Our findings provide new, computational evidence for the importance of the posterior hot zone in explaining the loss of consciousness, highlighting also the distinct role of frontoparietal connectivity in underpinning conscious responsiveness, and consequently, suggest a dissociation between the mechanisms most prominently associated with explaining the contrast between conscious awareness and unconsciousness, and those maintaining consciousness.
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Huntley JD, Fleming SM, Mograbi DC, Bor D, Naci L, Owen AM, Howard R. Understanding Alzheimer's disease as a disorder of consciousness. ALZHEIMER'S & DEMENTIA (NEW YORK, N. Y.) 2021; 7:e12203. [PMID: 34877398 PMCID: PMC8630359 DOI: 10.1002/trc2.12203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
People with Alzheimer's disease (AD) demonstrate a range of alterations in consciousness. Changes in awareness of cognitive deficit, self-awareness, and introspection are seen early in AD, and dysfunction of awareness and arousal progresses with increasing disease severity. However, heterogeneity of deficits between individuals and a lack of empirical studies in people with severe dementia highlight the importance of identifying and applying biomarkers of awareness in AD. Impairments of awareness in AD are associated with neuropathology in regions that overlap with proposed neural correlates of consciousness. Recent developments in consciousness science provide theoretical frameworks and experimental approaches to help further understand the conscious experience of people with AD. Recognition of AD as a disorder of consciousness is overdue, and important to both understand the lived experience of people with AD and to improve care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D. Huntley
- Division of PsychiatryUniversity College LondonLondonUK
- Wellcome Centre for Human NeuroimagingUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Stephen M. Fleming
- Wellcome Centre for Human NeuroimagingUniversity College LondonLondonUK
- Department of Experimental PsychologyUniversity College LondonLondonUK
- Max Planck‐UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing ResearchUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Daniel C. Mograbi
- Department of PsychologyPontifical Catholic University of Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroBrazil
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & NeuroscienceKing's College LondonLondonUK
| | - Daniel Bor
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Lorina Naci
- School of PsychologyGlobal Brain Health InstituteTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Adrian M. Owen
- Brain and Mind InstituteDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology and Department of PsychologyUniversity of Western OntarioLondonOntarioCanada
| | - Robert Howard
- Division of PsychiatryUniversity College LondonLondonUK
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La Manna D. The complexity of neural responses to visual stimuli: On Carruthers’ challenge to Block’s overflow argument. PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2020.1862781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Damiano La Manna
- Department of Philosophy, Damiano La Manna Is at University of Sheffield, UK
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Yin M, Zhang J, Shu D, Liu D. The relevant resting-state brain activity of ecological microexpression recognition test (EMERT). PLoS One 2020; 15:e0241681. [PMID: 33351809 PMCID: PMC7755225 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Zhang, et al. (2017) established the ecological microexpression recognition test (EMERT), but it only used white models’ expressions as microexpressions and backgrounds, and there was no research detecting its relevant brain activity. The current study used white, black and yellow models’ expressions as microexpressions and backgrounds to improve the materials ecological validity of EMERT, and it used eyes-closed and eyes-open resting-state fMRI to detect relevant brain activity of EMERT for the first time. The results showed: (1) Two new recapitulative indexes of EMERT were adopted, such as microexpression M and microexpression SD. The participants could effectively identify almost all the microexpressions, and each microexpression type had a significantly background effect. The EMERT had good retest reliability and calibration validity. (2) ALFFs (Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations) in both eyes-closed and eyes-open resting-states and ALFFs-difference could predict microexpression M. The relevant brain areas of microexpression M were some frontal lobes, insula, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, parietal lobe, caudate nucleus, thalamus, amygdala, occipital lobe, fusiform, temporal lobe, cerebellum and vermis. (3) ALFFs in both eyes-closed and eyes-open resting-states and ALFFs-difference could predict microexpression SD, and the ALFFs-difference was more predictive. The relevant brain areas of microexpression SD were some frontal lobes, insula, cingulate cortex, cuneus, amygdala, fusiform, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, precuneus, caudate lobe, putamen lobe, thalamus, temporal lobe, cerebellum and vermis. (4) There were many similarities and some differences in the relevant brain areas between microexpression M and SD. All these brain areas can be trained to enhance ecological microexpression recognition ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Yin
- Jiangsu Police Institute, Nanjing, China
| | - Jianxin Zhang
- School of Humanities, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
- * E-mail: (JZ); (DL)
| | - Deming Shu
- School of Education, Soochow University, Soochow, China
| | - Dianzhi Liu
- School of Education, Soochow University, Soochow, China
- * E-mail: (JZ); (DL)
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Krauss P, Maier A. Will We Ever Have Conscious Machines? Front Comput Neurosci 2020; 14:556544. [PMID: 33414712 PMCID: PMC7782472 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2020.556544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The question of whether artificial beings or machines could become self-aware or conscious has been a philosophical question for centuries. The main problem is that self-awareness cannot be observed from an outside perspective and the distinction of being really self-aware or merely a clever imitation cannot be answered without access to knowledge about the mechanism's inner workings. We investigate common machine learning approaches with respect to their potential ability to become self-aware. We realize that many important algorithmic steps toward machines with a core consciousness have already been taken.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Krauss
- Neuroscience Lab, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.,Cognitive Computational Neuroscience Group, Chair of Linguistics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Andreas Maier
- Chair of Machine Intelligence, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
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Abstract
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are three-dimensional in vitro cell cultures that mimic the developmental process and organization of the developing human brain. In just a few years this technique has produced brain models that are already being used to study diseases of the nervous system and to test treatments and drugs. Currently, HCOs consist of tens of millions of cells and have a size of a few millimeters. The greatest limitation to further development is due to their lack of vascularization. However, recent research has shown that human cerebral organoids can manifest the same electrical activity and connections between brain neurons and EEG patterns as those recorded in preterm babies. All this suggests that, in the future, HCOs may manifest an ability to experience basic sensations such as pain, therefore manifesting sentience, or even rudimentary forms of consciousness. This calls for consideration of whether cerebral organoids should be given a moral status and what limitations should be introduced to regulate research. In this article I focus particularly on the study of the emergence and mechanisms of human consciousness, i.e. one of the most complex scientific problems there are, by means of experiments on HCOs. This type of experiment raises relevant ethical issues and, as I will argue, should probably not be considered morally acceptable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Lavazza
- Centro Universitario Internazionale, Via Garbasso, 42, 52100, Arezzo, Italy.
- University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
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36
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Zhang J, Wang X, Huang J, Chen A, Liu D. Testing the Process Dissociation Procedure by Behavioral and Neuroimaging Data: The Establishment of the Mutually Exclusive Theory and the Improved PDP. Front Psychol 2020; 11:474538. [PMID: 33329165 PMCID: PMC7732533 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.474538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The process dissociation procedure (PDP) of implicit sequence learning states that the correct inclusion-task response contains the incorrect exclusion-task response. However, there has been no research to test the hypothesis. The current study used a single variable (Stimulus Onset Asynchrony SOA: 850 ms vs. 1350 ms) between-subjects design, with pre-task resting-state fMRI, to test and improve the classical PDP to the mutually exclusive theory (MET). (1) Behavioral data and neuroimaging data demonstrated that the classical PDP has not been validated. In the SOA = 850 ms group, the correct inclusion-task response was at chance, but the incorrect exclusion-task response occurred greater than chance. In the SOA = 850 ms group, the two responses were not correlated, but in the SOA = 1,350 ms group and putting the two groups together, the two responses were in contrast to each other. In each group, brain areas whose amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFFs) in the resting-state related to the two responses were either completely different or opposite to one another. However, the results were perfectly consistent with the MET proposed by the present study which suggests that the correct inclusion-task response is equal to the correct exclusion-task response is equal to C + A1, and the incorrect exclusion-task response is equal to A2. C denotes the controlled response and A1 and A2 denote two different automatic responses. (2) The improved PDP was proposed to categorize the 12 kinds of triplets as delineating four knowledge types, namely non-acquisition of knowledge, uncontrollable knowledge, half-controllable knowledge, and controllable knowledge with the MET. ALFFs in the resting-state could predict the four knowledge types of the improved PDP among two groups. The participants’ control of the four knowledge types (degree of consciousness) gradually improved. Correspondingly, the brain areas in the resting-state positively related to the four knowledge types, gradually changed from the sensory and motor network to the somatic sensorimotor network, and then to the implicit learning network, and then to the consciousness network. The brain areas in the resting-state negatively related to the four knowledge types gradually changed from the consciousness network to the sensory and motor network. As SOA increased, the brain areas associated with almost all the four knowledge types changed. (3) The inhomogeneous hypothesis of the MET is best suited to interpret behavioral and neuroimaging data; it states that the same components among the four knowledge types are not homogeneous, and the same knowledge types are not homogeneous between the two SOA groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianxin Zhang
- School of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Xiangpeng Wang
- School of Linguistic Sciences and Arts, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China
| | | | - Antao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Dianzhi Liu
- School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
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37
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Waroquier L, Abadie M, Dienes Z. Distinguishing the role of conscious and unconscious knowledge in evaluative conditioning. Cognition 2020; 205:104460. [PMID: 32980638 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to a change in liking of a conditioned stimulus (CS) subsequent to its repeated pairing with a valent stimulus (US). Two studies that bring new light on the highly debated question of the role of awareness in EC were conducted. We developed an innovative method motivated by higher order and integration theories of consciousness to distinguish between the role of conscious and unconscious knowledge about the pairings. On each trial of the awareness test, participants had to indicate the valence of the US associated with a given CS and to make a 'structural knowledge attribution' by reporting the basis of their response. Valence identification accuracy was used to evaluate knowledge while the knowledge attribution was used to measure the conscious status of knowledge. Memory attribution indicated conscious knowledge about the pairings while feeling-based and random attributions indicated unconscious knowledge. A meta-analysis of the two studies revealed that valence identification accuracy was above chance level for memory and feeling-based attributions but not for the random attribution. EC was found in the three attributions. While EC effect size was medium for the memory attribution it was small for feeling-based and random attributions. Moreover, Experiment 2 included a delayed test. EC was still present 24 h after the conditioning took place. The results obtained for memory and feeling-based attributions suggest that both conscious and unconscious knowledge may underlie EC. The results obtained for random attribution suggest that EC may also occur without any knowledge of US valence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Waroquier
- Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LAPSCO, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
| | - Marlène Abadie
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, Aix-Marseille Université, France
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38
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Zhang J, Yin M, Shu D, Liu D. The Establishment of Pseudorandom Ecological Microexpression Recognition Test (PREMERT) and Its Relevant Resting-State Brain Activity. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:281. [PMID: 32848665 PMCID: PMC7406786 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The EMERT (ecological microexpression recognition test) by Zhang et al. (2017) used between-subjects Latin square block design for backgrounds; therefore, participants could not get comparable scores. The current study used within-subject pseudorandom design for backgrounds to improve EMERT to PREMERT (pseudorandom EMERT) and used eyes-closed and eyes-open resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to detect relevant brain activity of PREMERT for the first time. The results showed (1) two new recapitulative indexes of PREMERT were adopted, such as microexpression M and microexpression SD. Using pseudorandom design, the participants could effectively identify almost all the microexpressions, and each microexpression type had significant background effect. The PREMERT had good split-half reliability, parallel-forms reliability, criterion validity, and ecological validity. Therefore, it could stably and efficiently detect the participants' microexpression recognition abilities. Because of its pseudorandom design, all participants did the same test; their scores could be compared with each other. (2) amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF; 0.01-0.1 Hz) in both eyes-closed and eyes-open resting states and ALFF difference could predict microexpression M, and the ALFF difference was less predictive. The relevant resting-state brain areas of microexpression M were some frontal lobes, insula, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, fusiform gyrus, parietal lobe, caudate nucleus, precuneus, thalamus, putamen, temporal lobe, and cerebellum. (3) ALFFs in both eyes-closed and eyes-open resting states and ALFF difference could predict microexpression SD, and the ALFF difference was more predictive. The relevant resting-state brain areas of microexpression SD were some frontal lobes, central anterior gyrus, supplementary motor area, insula, hippocampus, amygdala, cuneus, occipital lobe, fusiform gyrus, parietal lobe, caudate nucleus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, temporal lobe, and cerebellum. (4) There were many similar relevant resting-state brain areas, such as brain areas of expression recognition, microexpressions consciousness and attention, and the change from expression backgrounds to microexpression, and some different relevant resting-state brain areas, such as precuneus, insula, and pallidum, between microexpression M and SD. The ALFF difference was more sensitive to PREMERT fluctuations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianxin Zhang
- School of Humanities, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Ming Yin
- Jiangsu Police Institute, Nanjing, China
| | - Deming Shu
- School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Dianzhi Liu
- School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
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Northoff G, Lamme V. Neural signs and mechanisms of consciousness: Is there a potential convergence of theories of consciousness in sight? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 118:568-587. [PMID: 32783969 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Various theories for the neural basis of consciousness have been proposed, suggesting a diversity of neural signs and mechanisms. We ask to what extent this diversity is real, or whether many theories share the same basic ideas with a potential for convergence towards a more unified theory of the neural basis of consciousness. For that purpose, we review and compare the various neural signs, measures, and mechanisms proposed in the different theories. We demonstrate that different theories focus on neural signs and measures of distinct aspects of neural activity including stimulus-related, prestimulus, and resting state activity as well as on distinct features of consciousness. Therefore, the various mechanisms proposed in the different theories may, in part, complement each other. Together, we provide insight into the shared basis and convergences (and, in part, discrepancies) of the different theories of consciousness. We conclude that the different theories concern distinct aspects of both neural activity and consciousness which, as we suppose, may be integrated and nested within the brain's overall temporo-spatial dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Northoff
- Mental Health Center, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Victor Lamme
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition (ABC), Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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40
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Mathematical Models of Consciousness. ENTROPY 2020; 22:e22060609. [PMID: 33286381 PMCID: PMC7517149 DOI: 10.3390/e22060609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, promising mathematical models have been proposed that aim to describe conscious experience and its relation to the physical domain. Whereas the axioms and metaphysical ideas of these theories have been carefully motivated, their mathematical formalism has not. In this article, we aim to remedy this situation. We give an account of what warrants mathematical representation of phenomenal experience, derive a general mathematical framework that takes into account consciousness’ epistemic context, and study which mathematical structures some of the key characteristics of conscious experience imply, showing precisely where mathematical approaches allow to go beyond what the standard methodology can do. The result is a general mathematical framework for models of consciousness that can be employed in the theory-building process.
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41
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Polák M, Marvan T. How to Mitigate the Hard Problem by Adopting the Dual Theory of Phenomenal Consciousness. Front Psychol 2020; 10:2837. [PMID: 31920868 PMCID: PMC6927938 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we propose the following hypothesis: the hard problem of consciousness is in part an artifact of what we call the unitary approach to phenomenal consciousness. The defining mark of the unitary approach is that it views consciousness and phenomenality as inseparable. Giving up this conceptual commitment redefines, in a productive way, the explanatory tasks of the theory of consciousness. Adopting a non-unitary conception of experience does not make the hard problem of consciousness go away completely but it shifts the locus of where the explanation of experience gets difficult, and cuts down the mystery of consciousness to size. Other advantages of the non-unitary account of consciousness are sketched as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Polák
- Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czechia
| | - Tomáš Marvan
- Department of Analytic Philosophy, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy, Prague, Czechia
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42
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Luppi AI, Craig MM, Pappas I, Finoia P, Williams GB, Allanson J, Pickard JD, Owen AM, Naci L, Menon DK, Stamatakis EA. Consciousness-specific dynamic interactions of brain integration and functional diversity. Nat Commun 2019; 10:4616. [PMID: 31601811 PMCID: PMC6787094 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12658-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Prominent theories of consciousness emphasise different aspects of neurobiology, such as the integration and diversity of information processing within the brain. Here, we combine graph theory and dynamic functional connectivity to compare resting-state functional MRI data from awake volunteers, propofol-anaesthetised volunteers, and patients with disorders of consciousness, in order to identify consciousness-specific patterns of brain function. We demonstrate that cortical networks are especially affected by loss of consciousness during temporal states of high integration, exhibiting reduced functional diversity and compromised informational capacity, whereas thalamo-cortical functional disconnections emerge during states of higher segregation. Spatially, posterior regions of the brain’s default mode network exhibit reductions in both functional diversity and integration with the rest of the brain during unconsciousness. These results show that human consciousness relies on spatio-temporal interactions between brain integration and functional diversity, whose breakdown may represent a generalisable biomarker of loss of consciousness, with potential relevance for clinical practice. How do diversity (entropy) and integration of activity across brain regions interact to support consciousness? Here the authors show that anaesthetised individuals and patients with disorders of consciousness exhibit overlapping reductions in both diversity and integration in the brain’s default mode network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea I Luppi
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael M Craig
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ioannis Pappas
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, 210 Barker Hall, University of California - Berkeley, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Paola Finoia
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK
| | - Guy B Williams
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), CB2 0QQ, Cambridge, UK
| | - Judith Allanson
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Neurosciences, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK
| | - John D Pickard
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), CB2 0QQ, Cambridge, UK
| | - Adrian M Owen
- The Brain and Mind Institute, Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, N6A 5B7 University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Lorina Naci
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Lloyd Building, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - David K Menon
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.,Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), CB2 0QQ, Cambridge, UK
| | - Emmanuel A Stamatakis
- Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK. .,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Rd, CB2 0SP, Cambridge, UK.
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43
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Peterson A, Tagliazucchi E, Weijer C. The ethics of psychedelic research in disorders of consciousness. Neurosci Conscious 2019; 2019:niz013. [PMID: 31616570 PMCID: PMC6785661 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niz013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
This article provides an ethical analysis of psychedelic research involving disorders of consciousness patients. We apply two internationally accepted approaches for analyzing the ethics of human research, the Value-Validity Framework and Component Analysis, to a research program recently proposed by Scott and Carhart-Harris. We focus on Scott and Carhart-Harris's proposal, but the ethical frameworks outlined are applicable to other novel research protocols in the science of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Peterson
- Department of Philosophy, Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive 3F1, Fairfax, VA, USA
- Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, ON, Canada
| | - Enzo Tagliazucchi
- Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences and National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), University of Buenos Aires, Ar. Int. Guiraldes 2160, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Charles Weijer
- Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, ON, Canada
- Departments of Philosophy and Epidemiology, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, ON, Canada
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44
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Lumer C. Unconscious Motives and Actions - Agency, Freedom and Responsibility. Front Psychol 2019; 9:2777. [PMID: 30846963 PMCID: PMC6393333 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2018] [Accepted: 12/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
According to many criteria, agency, intentionality, responsibility and freedom of decision, require conscious decisions. Freud already assumed that many of our decisions are influenced by dynamically unconscious motives or that we even perform unconscious actions based on completely unconscious considerations. Such actions might not be intentional, and perhaps not even actions in the narrow sense, we would not be responsible for them and freedom of decision would be missing. Recent psychological and neurophysiological research has added to this a number of phenomena (the "new unconscious") in which behavior is completely unconscious or in which the decision or its execution is influenced by unconscious factors: priming, automatic behavior, habitualized behavior, actions based on plain unconscious deliberations, intrusion of information from the dorsal pathway, etc. However, since this makes up the largest part of the behavior which is generally regarded as action, intentionality, yet agency, responsibility and even compatibilist freedom of decision for the largest part of our behavior may be threatened. Such considerations have led to a lively debate, which, however, suffers from generalizations that lump all these unconscious phenomena together. In contrast, the aim of this article is to discuss individual unconscious influences on our behavior separately with respect to what extent they require changes in traditional conceptualizations. The first part (sections 2-4) of the article outlines the "traditions" and their elaborations: the intentional causalist concept of action, an associated empirical theory of action and standard concepts of responsibility and compatibilist freedom of decision, as well as the challenges for them. In the second part (sections 5-9), the aforementioned unconscious influences on our actions (except for automated and habitualized actions, which I discuss elsewhere) are examined: 1. unconscious priming, 2. dynamically unconscious motives, 3. dorsal pathway information influencing conscious decisions, 4. unconsciously altered execution of conscious intentions, and 5. unconscious deliberations and decisions. To what extent do these phenomena C1. require a change in the concept of action, C2. curtail intentionality or agency, C3. responsibility, and C4. freedom? The result is: The curtailments prove to be far less dramatic than they initially appear; they require more watchfulness but no conceptual change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Lumer
- Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali, Politiche e Cognitive, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy
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45
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Wajnerman Paz A. Using neural response properties to draw the distinction between modal and amodal representations. PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2018.1563677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Abel Wajnerman Paz
- Department of Philosophy, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago de Chile, Chile
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46
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Naccache L. Minimally conscious state or cortically mediated state? Brain 2018; 141:949-960. [PMID: 29206895 PMCID: PMC5888986 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awx324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2017] [Revised: 09/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Durable impairments of consciousness are currently classified in three main neurological categories: comatose state, vegetative state (also recently coined unresponsive wakefulness syndrome) and minimally conscious state. While the introduction of minimally conscious state, in 2002, was a major progress to help clinicians recognize complex non-reflexive behaviours in the absence of functional communication, it raises several problems. The most important issue related to minimally conscious state lies in its criteria: while behavioural definition of minimally conscious state lacks any direct evidence of patient's conscious content or conscious state, it includes the adjective 'conscious'. I discuss this major problem in this review and propose a novel interpretation of minimally conscious state: its criteria do not inform us about the potential residual consciousness of patients, but they do inform us with certainty about the presence of a cortically mediated state. Based on this constructive criticism review, I suggest three proposals aiming at improving the way we describe the subjective and cognitive state of non-communicating patients. In particular, I present a tentative new classification of impairments of consciousness that combines behavioural evidence with functional brain imaging data, in order to probe directly and univocally residual conscious processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lionel Naccache
- AP-HP, Groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Department of Neurology, 75013, Paris, France
- AP-HP, Groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Department of Neurophysiology, 75013, Paris, France
- INSERM, U 1127, F-75013, Paris, France
- Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, PICNIC Lab, F-75013, Paris, France
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47
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Davis SW, Luber B, Murphy DLK, Lisanby SH, Cabeza R. Frequency-specific neuromodulation of local and distant connectivity in aging and episodic memory function. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:5987-6004. [PMID: 28885757 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2017] [Revised: 07/08/2017] [Accepted: 08/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing literature has focused on the brain's ability to augment processing in local regions by recruiting distant communities of neurons in response to neural decline or insult. In particular, both younger and older adult populations recruit bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) as a means of compensating for increasing neural effort to maintain successful cognitive function. However, it remains unclear how local changes in neural activity affect the recruitment of this adaptive mechanism. To address this problem, we combined graph theoretical measures from functional MRI with diffusion weighted imaging and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to resolve a central hypothesis: how do aged brains flexibly adapt to local changes in cortical activity? Specifically, we applied neuromodulation to increase or decrease local activity in a cortical region supporting successful memory encoding (left dorsolateral PFC or DLPFC) using 5 or 1 Hz rTMS, respectively. We then assessed a region's local within-module degree, or the distributed between-module degree (BMD) between distant cortical communities. We predicted that (1) local stimulation-related deficits may be counteracted by boosting BMD between bilateral PFC, and that this effect should be (2) positively correlated with structural connectivity. Both predictions were confirmed; 5 Hz rTMS increased local success-related activity and local increases in PFC connectivity, while 1 Hz rTMS decreases local activity and triggered a more distributed pattern of bilateral PFC connectivity to compensate for this local inhibitory effect. These results provide an integrated, causal explanation for the network interactions associated with successful memory encoding in older adults. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5987-6004, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon W Davis
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.,Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Bruce Luber
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - David L K Murphy
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | | | - Roberto Cabeza
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
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48
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Kuzmina E, Humphreys GW, Riddoch MJ, Skvortsov AA, Weekes BS. Preliminary validation study of the Russian Birmingham Cognitive Screen. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2017; 40:1-16. [PMID: 28290234 DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2017.1301884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS) is designed for use with individuals who have acquired language impairment following stroke. Our goal was to develop a Russian version of the BCoS (Rus-BCoS) by translating the battery following cultural and linguistic adaptations and establishing preliminary data on its psychometric properties. METHOD Fifty patients with left-hemisphere stroke were recruited, of whom 98% were diagnosed with mild to moderate aphasia. To check whether the Rus-BCoS provides stable and consistent scores, internal consistency, test-retest, and interrater types of reliability were determined. Eight participants with stroke and 20 neurologically intact participants were assessed twice. To inspect the discriminative power of the battery, 63 participants without brain impairment were tested with the Rus-BCoS. Additionally, the Russian version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Quantitative Assessment of Speech in Aphasia, and Luria's Neuropsychological Assessment Battery were used to examine convergent validity, sensitivity, and specificity of the Rus-BCoS. RESULTS The internal consistency as well as test-retest and interrater reliability of the Rus-BCoS satisfied criteria for the research use. Performance on a majority of tasks in the battery correlated significantly with independently validated tests that putatively measure similar cognitive processes. Critically, all patients with aphasia returned nonzero scores in at least one task in all the Rus-BCoS sections, with the exception of the Controlled Attention section where two patients with severe executive control deficits could not perform. CONCLUSIONS The Rus-BCoS shows promise as a comprehensive cognitive screening tool that can be used by clinicians working with Russian-speaking persons experiencing poststroke aphasia after much further validation and development of reliable normative standards. Given a lack of quantitative neuropsychological assessment tools in Russia, however, we contend the Rus-BCoS offers potential benefits to clinicians and patients. However, data from research studies with a broader sample of Russian speakers are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Kuzmina
- a Laboratory for Communication Science, Faculty of Education , The University of Hong Kong , Pok Fu Lam , Hong Kong
| | - G W Humphreys
- a Laboratory for Communication Science, Faculty of Education , The University of Hong Kong , Pok Fu Lam , Hong Kong.,b Department of Experimental Psychology, Division of Medical Science , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK
| | - M J Riddoch
- a Laboratory for Communication Science, Faculty of Education , The University of Hong Kong , Pok Fu Lam , Hong Kong.,b Department of Experimental Psychology, Division of Medical Science , University of Oxford , Oxford , UK
| | - A A Skvortsov
- c Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Psychology , National Research University Higher School of Economics , Moscow , Russia.,d Center for Speech Pathology and Neurorehabilitation , Moscow , Russia
| | - B S Weekes
- a Laboratory for Communication Science, Faculty of Education , The University of Hong Kong , Pok Fu Lam , Hong Kong.,e School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences , University of Melbourne , Melbourne , VIC , Australia
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Naro A, Bramanti P, Leo A, Russo M, Calabrò RS. Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in Patients with Chronic Disorder of Consciousness: A Possible Way to Cut the Diagnostic Gordian Knot? Brain Topogr 2016; 29:623-44. [PMID: 27062669 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-016-0489-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) is a chronic disorder of consciousness (DOC) characterized by a lack of awareness and purposeful motor behaviors, owing to an extensive brain connectivity impairment. Nevertheless, some UWS patients may retain residual brain connectivity patterns, which may sustain a covert awareness, namely functional locked-in syndrome (fLIS). We evaluated the possibility of bringing to light such residual neural networks using a non-invasive neurostimulation protocol. To this end, we enrolled 15 healthy individuals and 26 DOC patients (minimally conscious state-MCS- and UWS), who underwent a γ-band transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We measured the effects of tACS on power and partial-directed coherence within local and long-range cortical networks, before and after the protocol application. tACS was able to specifically modulate large-scale cortical effective connectivity and excitability in all the MCS participants and some UWS patients, who could be, therefore, considered as suffering from fLIS. Hence, tACS could be a useful approach in supporting a DOC differential diagnosis, depending on the level of preservation of the cortical large-scale effective connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Naro
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo" Messina, S.S.113, Contrada Casazza, 98124, Messina, Italy
| | - Placido Bramanti
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo" Messina, S.S.113, Contrada Casazza, 98124, Messina, Italy
| | - Antonino Leo
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo" Messina, S.S.113, Contrada Casazza, 98124, Messina, Italy
| | - Margherita Russo
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo" Messina, S.S.113, Contrada Casazza, 98124, Messina, Italy
| | - Rocco Salvatore Calabrò
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo" Messina, S.S.113, Contrada Casazza, 98124, Messina, Italy.
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Naccache L, King JR, Sitt J, Engemann D, El Karoui I, Rohaut B, Faugeras F, Chennu S, Strauss M, Bekinschtein T, Dehaene S. Neural detection of complex sound sequences or of statistical regularities in the absence of consciousness? Brain 2015; 138:e395. [DOI: 10.1093/brain/awv190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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