Forum for Consciousness Research

Abstract: When we contrast how the brain processes the same external stimulation according to whether we report it as perceived or not, we observe a whole series of neural events that correlate with this conscious report. One of the challenges we are now facing in consciousness research is to identify, among these correlates, what corresponds to core mechanisms of conscious access, and distinguish them from upstream events, such as early sensory processing, and from downstream events, such as explicit decision-making and other task-related processes. Here I will present the results of two experimental approaches that we are currently developing in my team to perform this dissection, and I will discuss their potential for identifying neural signatures of conscious access even in the absence of explicit report from the individual. These new developments call for an extension of current models such as the global workspace model, to explain conscious experience beyond task-related processes. They might also open possibilities for a better evaluation of consciousness in non-communicating patients.