Generality and content-specificity in the study of the neural correlates of perceptual consciousness

Marvan, Tomáš; Polak, Michał

doi:10.33735/phimisci.2020.ii.61

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…As we ultimately strive to connect the phenomenal with the neural, we may also express this by using the terminology of neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). What has just been said is then in very good agreement with the claims of Marvan and Polák (2020) “that the perceptual NCC be divided into two constitutive subnotions. The first subnotion covers the content-specific side of the perceptual NCC… [T]he second subnotion [is] that of the neural process or processes making the perceptual contents… conscious.” The authors call the first subnotion the neural correlate of content (NCc) and the second the general neural correlate of consciousness (gNCC).…”

Section: Neurophenomenal Structuralismsupporting

confidence: 80%

Neurophenomenal structuralism. A philosophical agenda for a structuralist neuroscience of consciousness

Lyre

2022

Neuroscience of Consciousness

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The program of “neurophenomenal structuralism” is presented as an agenda for a genuine structuralist neuroscience of consciousness that seeks to understand specific phenomenal experiences as strictly relational affairs. The paper covers a broad range of topics. It starts from considerations about neural change detection and relational coding that motivate a solution of the Newman problem of the brain in terms of spatiotemporal relations. Next, phenomenal quality spaces and their Q-structures are discussed. Neurophenomenal structuralism proclaims a homomorphic mapping of the structures of self-organized neural maps in the brain onto Q-structures, and it will be demonstrated how this leads to a new and special version of structural representationalism about phenomenal content. A methodological implication of neurophenomenal structuralism is that it proposes measurement procedures that focus on the relationships between different stimuli (as, for instance, similarity ratings or representational geometry methods). Finally, it will be shown that neurophenomenal structuralism also has strong philosophical implications, as it leads to holism about phenomenal experiences and serves to reject inverted qualia scenarios.

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Section: Neurophenomenal Structuralismsupporting

confidence: 80%

Neurophenomenal structuralism. A philosophical agenda for a structuralist neuroscience of consciousness

Lyre

2022

Neuroscience of Consciousness

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“… 5 In Marvan and Polák (2020) essentially the same notion is labeled “general neural correlate of (perceptual) consciousness”. Here we speak directly of the causally involved neurobiological mechanism itself (the neurobiological CSAM) and focus only on the cellular level of brain description.…”

Section: Footnotesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Apical amplification—a cellular mechanism of conscious perception?

Marvan

Polak

Bachmann

et al. 2021

Neuroscience of Consciousness

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We present a theoretical view of the cellular foundations for network-level processes involved in producing our conscious experience. Inputs to apical synapses in layer 1 of a large subset of neocortical cells are summed at an integration zone near the top of their apical trunk. These inputs come from diverse sources and provide a context within which the transmission of information abstracted from sensory input to their basal and perisomatic synapses can be amplified when relevant. We argue that apical amplification enables conscious perceptual experience and makes it more flexible, and thus more adaptive, by being sensitive to context. Apical amplification provides a possible mechanism for recurrent processing theory that avoids strong loops. It makes the broadcasting hypothesized by global neuronal workspace theories feasible while preserving the distinct contributions of the individual cells receiving the broadcast. It also provides mechanisms that contribute to the holistic aspects of integrated information theory. As apical amplification is highly dependent on cholinergic, aminergic, and other neuromodulators, it relates the specific contents of conscious experience to global mental states and to fluctuations in arousal when awake. We conclude that apical dendrites provide a cellular mechanism for the context-sensitive selective amplification that is a cardinal prerequisite of conscious perception.

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“…Finally, GNW is criticized for mainly addressing the functional aspects of the perceptual, with little to no attention to its phenomenological aspects ( Seth & Bayne, 2022 ). Indeed, GNW research focuses mainly on identifying the process, rather than content-based neural correlates of consciousness ( Marvan & Polák, 2020 ). In other words, GNW left out the central question of “how it is like to have a given perceptual experience?”.…”

Section: Neural Correlates Of Perceptual Consciousness: Information A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The experimental study of consciousness: Is psychology travelling back to the future?

Gonçalves,

Sayal,

Lisboa

et al. 2024

International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology

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Generality and content-specificity in the study of the neural correlates of perceptual consciousness

Cited by 7 publications

References 45 publications

Neurophenomenal structuralism. A philosophical agenda for a structuralist neuroscience of consciousness

Neurophenomenal structuralism. A philosophical agenda for a structuralist neuroscience of consciousness

Apical amplification—a cellular mechanism of conscious perception?

The experimental study of consciousness: Is psychology travelling back to the future?

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