The neural correlate of consciousness

Abstract

I propose that we are only aware of changes in our underlying cognition. This hypothesis is based on four lines of evidence. (1) Without changes in visual input (including fixational eye movements), static images fade from awareness. (2) Consciousness appears to be continuous, but is actually broken up into discrete cycles of cognition. Without continuity, conscious awareness disintegrates into a series of isolated cycles. The simplest mechanism for creating continuity is to track the changes between the cycles. (3) While these conscious vectors are putative, they have a clear source: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The DLPFC is active during awareness of changes, and this awareness is disrupted by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. (4) When the DLPFC and the orbital and inferior parietal cortices are deactivated during dreaming, conscious awareness is absent even though the rest of the brain is active. Moreover, Lau and Passingham showed that activation of the DLPFC, but no other brain region, correlates with awareness. In summary, if the DLPFC and conscious vectors are the neural correlate of consciousness, then we are only aware of changes in our underlying cognition. The glue that holds conscious awareness together is conscious awareness.