A hidden brain rhythm challenges ideas about where consciousness comes from
How our brains give rise to consciousness is one of the biggest mysteries in neuroscience. But new research by Janis Hesse at the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues, may help fill in some of the details. The insights are coming from studies on macaque monkeys.
Neuroscience has long debated the origins of consciousness, with researchers divided between the front and back regions of the brain. Janis Hesse and colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley, have now proposed that the timing of brain activity, not just its location, may be crucial in distinguishing conscious from suppressed visual processing.
By using binocular flash suppression on both humans and macaque monkeys, the researchers observed a rapid rhythm in brain cell activity, alternating roughly 15 times each second between images the animals could see and those hidden from their awareness. This finding indicates that the timing of activity within cortical populations is a critical factor in conscious perception, challenging the notion that specific brain regions hold the key to understanding consciousness.
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