‘Catching the waves’ – slow cortical potentials as moderator of voluntary action

Schmidt, Stefan; Jo, Han-Gue; Wittmann, Marc; Hinterberger, Thilo

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.06.023

Cited by 50 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 71 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…He meditated for up to 12 h a day for 10 years and has spent an estimated total of over 50,000 h in formal meditative practice. TB's exceptional introspective skills have already helped us to elucidate the experiential nature of other neurophysiological signals (Schmidt et al, 2016). was divided into five scanning runs during which the participant was instructed to keep his eyes closed.…”

Section: Participantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content-Free Awareness: EEG-fcMRI Correlates of Consciousness as Such in an Expert Meditator

Winter

LeVan

Borghardt³

et al. 2020

Front. Psychol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The minimal neural correlate of the conscious state, regardless of the neural activity correlated with the ever-changing contents of experience, has still not been identified. Different attempts have been made, mainly by comparing the normal waking state to seemingly unconscious states, such as deep sleep or general anesthesia. A more direct approach would be the neuroscientific investigation of conscious states that are experienced as free of any specific phenomenal content. Here we present serendipitous data on content-free awareness (CFA) during an EEG-fMRI assessment reported by an extraordinarily qualified meditator with over 50,000 h of practice. We focused on two specific cortical networks related to external and internal awareness, i.e., the dorsal attention network (DAN) and the default mode network (DMN), to explore the neural correlates of this experience. The combination of high-resolution EEG and ultrafast fMRI enabled us to analyze the dynamic aspects of fMRI connectivity informed by EEG power analysis. The neural correlates of CFA were characterized by a sharp decrease in alpha power and an increase in theta power as well as increases in functional connectivity in the DAN and decreases in the posterior DMN. We interpret these findings as correlates of a top-down-initiated attentional state excluding external sensory stimuli and internal mentation from conscious experience. We conclude that the investigation of states of CFA could provide valuable input for new methodological and conceptual approaches in the search for the minimal neural correlate of consciousness.

show abstract

Section: Participantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content-Free Awareness: EEG-fcMRI Correlates of Consciousness as Such in an Expert Meditator

Winter

LeVan

Borghardt³

et al. 2020

Front. Psychol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Northoff (2014Northoff ( , 2016 identifies slow cortical potentials with something that can potentially enable the temporal width of experience (as extended present moment) through the temporal integration of discrete time points. Due to their long phase duration as low-frequency fluctuations, such slow cortical potentials would integrate different stimuli and their associated neural activity from different brain regions (Schmidt et al 2016). Such temporal integration across regions of the brain would enable consciousness over time, the feeling of extended 'nowness'.…”

Section: Temporal Windows Of Presencementioning

confidence: 99%

The phenomenology and cognitive neuroscience of experienced temporality

Dorato

Wittmann

2019

Phenom Cogn Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We discuss the three dominant models of the phenomenological literature pertaining to temporal consciousness, namely the cinematic, the retentional, and the extensional model. By relying on the distinction between acts and contents of consciousness we first discuss the explanatory merits of these three views vis à vis our temporal experience. In the second part of the paper, we review some relevant findings from the psychology and neuroscience of temporality in order to evaluate which of the three models of time consciousness is better confirmed from an empirical viewpoint. Depending on the time scale, all of the three models of temporal consciousness might be justified but we claim that the empirical evidence favours the extensional model, where the acts and contents of consciousness are both extended. The retentional model might apply to longer time intervals covered by working memory but, similarly to the cinematic model, it is open to the objection that from a neurophysiological point of view the brain processes which underlie acts of consciousness must necessarily be extended in time. We conclude by stressing a so-far neglected predictive component that is to be regarded as decisive for an understanding of our experience of temporality.

show abstract

“…Starting 400-500 ms before movement onset, the excitability of premotor areas increases more rapidly showing a steeper negative slope (NS' or late BP component), that reflects the stage of movement preparation often associated with conscious decision of movement. The preconscious interpretation of the BP has been recently challenged by Schmidt et al (2016). They proposed that the BP (or early RP) could represent a correlate of the upcoming voluntary action, but not as a necessary causal factor.…”

Section: Section 1 Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the “Bereitschaftspotential”: Action preparation behind cognitive functions

Russo

Berchicci

Bozzacchi

et al. 2017

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

120

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

‘Catching the waves’ – slow cortical potentials as moderator of voluntary action

Cited by 50 publications

References 71 publications

Content-Free Awareness: EEG-fcMRI Correlates of Consciousness as Such in an Expert Meditator

Content-Free Awareness: EEG-fcMRI Correlates of Consciousness as Such in an Expert Meditator

The phenomenology and cognitive neuroscience of experienced temporality

Beyond the “Bereitschaftspotential”: Action preparation behind cognitive functions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About