Electrophysiological chronometry of graded consciousness during the attentional blink
- One of the ongoing debates about visual consciousness is whether it can be considered as an all-or-none or a graded phenomenon. While there is increasing evidence for the existence of graded states of conscious awareness based on paradigms such as visual masking, only little and mixed evidence is available for the attentional blink paradigm, specifically in regard to electrophysiological measures. Thereby, the all-or-none pattern reported in some attentional blink studies might have originated from specifics of the experimental design, suggesting the need to examine the generalizability of results. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study (N = 32), visual awareness of T2 face targets was assessed via subjective visibility ratings on a perceptual awareness scale in combination with ERPs time-locked to T2 onset (components P1, N1, N2, and P3). Furthermore, a classification task preceding visibility ratings allowed to track task performance. The behavioral results indicate a graded rather than an all-or-none pattern of visualOne of the ongoing debates about visual consciousness is whether it can be considered as an all-or-none or a graded phenomenon. While there is increasing evidence for the existence of graded states of conscious awareness based on paradigms such as visual masking, only little and mixed evidence is available for the attentional blink paradigm, specifically in regard to electrophysiological measures. Thereby, the all-or-none pattern reported in some attentional blink studies might have originated from specifics of the experimental design, suggesting the need to examine the generalizability of results. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study (N = 32), visual awareness of T2 face targets was assessed via subjective visibility ratings on a perceptual awareness scale in combination with ERPs time-locked to T2 onset (components P1, N1, N2, and P3). Furthermore, a classification task preceding visibility ratings allowed to track task performance. The behavioral results indicate a graded rather than an all-or-none pattern of visual awareness. Corresponding graded differences in the N1, N2, and P3 components were observed for the comparison of visibility levels. These findings suggest that conscious perception during the attentional blink can occur in a graded fashion.…
Author details: | Anna EiserbeckORCiD, Alexander EngeORCiD, Milena RabovskyORCiDGND, Rasha Abdel RahmanORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab289 |
ISSN: | 1047-3211 |
ISSN: | 1460-2199 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34435621 |
Title of parent work (English): | Cerebral cortex |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Place of publishing: | New York, NY |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2021/08/26 |
Publication year: | 2022 |
Release date: | 2024/02/22 |
Tag: | attentional blink; consciousness; correlates of consciousness; event-related potentials; neural; perceptual awareness scale |
Volume: | 32 |
Issue: | 6 |
Number of pages: | 16 |
First page: | 1244 |
Last Page: | 1259 |
Funding institution: | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)German Research Foundation (DFG) [EXC 2002/1, 390523135]; German Research FoundationGerman Research Foundation (DFG) [AB277/6] |
Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie) |
6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit | |
Peer review: | Referiert |