Coupling the State and Contents of Consciousness

Overview

Journal Front Syst Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2019 Sep 24

PMID 31543762

Citations 40

Authors

Jaan Aru

Mototaka Suzuki

Renate Rutiku

Matthew E Larkum

Talis Bachmann

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

One fundamental feature of consciousness is that the contents of consciousness depend on the state of consciousness. Here, we propose an answer to why this is so: both the state and the contents of consciousness depend on the activity of cortical layer 5 pyramidal (L5p) neurons. These neurons affect both cortical and thalamic processing, hence coupling the cortico-cortical and thalamo-cortical loops with each other. Functionally this coupling corresponds to the coupling between the state and the contents of consciousness. Together the cortico-cortical and thalamo-cortical loops form a thalamo-cortical broadcasting system, where the L5p cells are the central elements. This perspective makes one quite specific prediction: cortical processing that does not include L5p neurons will be unconscious. More generally, the present perspective suggests that L5p neurons have a central role in the mechanisms underlying consciousness.

Citing Articles

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