StimConscious · The role of subcortical structures in perceptual consciousness: a causal investigation

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Project objective

The investigation of the neural substrates of perceptual consciousness has mainly relied on correlative analyses of brain activity. Additionally, subcortical structures — which have long been believed to play a role in perceptual consciousness — have been understudied. StimConscious proposes a new, causal line of research to test the hypothesis that a transient arousal pulse from subcortical structures facilitates cortical processes that are necessary for consciousness. Electrical pulses will be delivered with precisely controlled timing during a well-validated visual detection task, in which face stimuli are presented to human participants at their perceptual threshold. In WP1, I will investigate how the timing and anatomical location of non-invasive neurostimulation of subcortical structures affect behavioral markers of perceptual consciousness. In WP2, I will test if direct, invasive neurostimulation of the central thalamus concurrent with stimulus presentation impacts those markers. In both WPs, I will investigate how neurostimulation of subcortical structures influences cortical signals associated with perceptual consciousness. StimConscious will generate a unique dataset from a population of epilepsy patients with rare thalamic implants. These findings will be complemented by a cutting-edge, non-invasive method in healthy participants — temporal interference stimulation — that expands neurostimulation targets beyond the central thalamus to include the midbrain and cerebellum. For the first time, StimConscious will directly test if perception of a stimulus is facilitated by a pulse of activity in subcortical structures. The proposed project therefore promises to unravel the role of subcortical structures in perceptual consciousness, moving beyond correlations to establish causal explanations.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN · LeuvenCoordinatorBelgium
• Masarykova univerzita · BrnoCzechia
• YALE UNIVERSITY · New HavenUnited States

Links

• View on CORDIS
• DOI: 10.3030/101277481