Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence

Melanie Boly; Marcello Massimini; Naotsugu Tsuchiya; Bradley R Postle; Christof Koch; Giulio Tononi

doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3218-16.2017

Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence

J Neurosci. 2017 Oct 4;37(40):9603-9613. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3218-16.2017.

Authors

Melanie Boly^{1

2}, Marcello Massimini^{3

4}, Naotsugu Tsuchiya^{5

6}, Bradley R Postle^{2

7}, Christof Koch⁸, Giulio Tononi⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, boly@wisc.edu gtononi@wisc.edu.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53719.
³ Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Luigi Sacco, University of Milan, Milan 20157, Italy.
⁴ Instituto Di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan 20148, Italy.
⁵ School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, 3800 Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Monash University, Melbourne, 3800 Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, and.
⁸ Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, Washington 98109.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53719, boly@wisc.edu gtononi@wisc.edu.

Abstract

The role of the frontal cortex in consciousness remains a matter of debate. In this Perspective, we will critically review the clinical and neuroimaging evidence for the involvement of the front versus the back of the cortex in specifying conscious contents and discuss promising research avenues.Dual Perspectives Companion Paper: Should a Few Null Findings Falsify Prefrontal Theories of Conscious Perception?, by Brian Odegaard, Robert T. Knight, and Hakwan Lau.

Keywords: consciousness; frontal cortex; lesion studies; neuroimaging; stimulation studies.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain Mapping / methods
Cerebral Cortex / physiology*
Consciousness / physiology*
Humans
Nerve Net / physiology*
Neuroimaging / methods*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding