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Trends in Cognitive Sciences Jun 2004Sleep is crucial to the 'off-line' consolidation of procedural memory. A recent study by Robertson et al. shows that this might hold true only if the task is trained... (Review)
Review
Sleep is crucial to the 'off-line' consolidation of procedural memory. A recent study by Robertson et al. shows that this might hold true only if the task is trained explicitly, that is, with the subject being aware of the task structure. These new data add to emerging evidence that sleep-related memory consolidation involves an interaction between different memory systems.
Topics: Awareness; Humans; Memory; Psychomotor Performance; Sleep; Wakefulness
PubMed: 15165544
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.04.010 -
Current Biology : CB Oct 2022Does perceptual awareness arise within the sensory regions of the brain or within higher-level regions (e.g., the frontal lobe)? To answer this question, researchers...
Does perceptual awareness arise within the sensory regions of the brain or within higher-level regions (e.g., the frontal lobe)? To answer this question, researchers traditionally compare neural activity when observers report being aware versus being unaware of a stimulus. However, it is unclear whether the resulting activations are associated with the conscious perception of the stimulus or the post-perceptual processes associated with reporting that stimulus. To address this limitation, we used both report and no-report conditions in a visual masking paradigm while participants were scanned using functional MRI (fMRI). We found that the overall univariate response to visible stimuli in the frontal lobe was robust in the report condition but disappeared in the no-report condition. However, using multivariate patterns, we could still decode in both conditions whether a stimulus reached conscious awareness across the brain, including in the frontal lobe. These results help reconcile key discrepancies in the recent literature and provide a path forward for identifying the neural mechanisms associated with perceptual awareness.
Topics: Awareness; Brain; Brain Mapping; Consciousness; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Perceptual Masking; Visual Perception
PubMed: 35981538
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.068 -
Emotion (Washington, D.C.) Aug 2018Emotional experience (EE) and trait emotional awareness (tEA) have recently become topics of considerable experimental/theoretical interest within the cognitive and... (Review)
Review
Emotional experience (EE) and trait emotional awareness (tEA) have recently become topics of considerable experimental/theoretical interest within the cognitive and neural sciences. However, to date there has been limited empirical focus on how individual differences in the factors contributing to EE (a state-based construct) might account for differences in tEA. To promote clear, well-guided empirical research in this area, in this article we first offer a concise review of the primary factors contributing to EE. We then provide a theoretical investigation into how individual differences in these factors (i.e., differences in affective response generation, affective response representation, and conscious access) could mechanistically account for differences in tEA; we also discuss plausible origins of these individual differences in light of current empirical findings. Finally, we outline possible experiments that would support (or fail to support) the role of each factor in explaining differences in tEA-and how this added knowledge could shed light on the known link between low tEA and multiple emotion-related mental and systemic medical disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: Awareness; Emotions; Humans
PubMed: 29172623
DOI: 10.1037/emo0000376 -
Handbook of Clinical Neurology 2019The cingulate cortex has been implicated in a wide range of overlapping cognitive, affective, skeletomotor, and visceromotor functions. In this chapter, we focus on the... (Review)
Review
The cingulate cortex has been implicated in a wide range of overlapping cognitive, affective, skeletomotor, and visceromotor functions. In this chapter, we focus on the role of the anterior and midcingulate cortex (ACC and MCC) in facilitating a person's ability to recognize and understand his or her own emotions. Here, we illustrate how this ability-often referred to as "emotional awareness" (EA)-may require integration across each of the aforementioned functions. To appropriately situate the role of the cingulate in EA, we first summarize a number of studies that have highlighted ACC/MCC engagement in the context of emotion. We then describe prominent domain-general views of the ACC (in interaction with MCC), which together suggest that it may serve as a hub within a high-level visceromotor control system. This high-level system functions to predict and mobilize the required metabolic resources in a given situation via the integration of multimodal information available from both sensory cortices and memory. Based on this work, we show that EA can be seen as an important consequence of this integrative process and how it can help to explain the adaptive nature of such advanced emotional capacities. We close by briefly considering the potential clinical relevance of understanding ACC/MCC function and its specific role in emotion and awareness.
Topics: Animals; Awareness; Emotions; Gyrus Cinguli; Humans
PubMed: 31731927
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-64196-0.00006-6 -
Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Aug 2006Unawareness related to brain injury has implications for participation in rehabilitation, functional outcomes, and the emotional well-being of clients. Addressing... (Review)
Review
Unawareness related to brain injury has implications for participation in rehabilitation, functional outcomes, and the emotional well-being of clients. Addressing disorders of awareness is an integral component of many rehabilitation programmes, and a review of the literature identified a range of awareness interventions that include holistic milieu-oriented neuropsychological programmes, psychotherapy, compensatory and facilitatory approaches, structured experiences, direct feedback, videotaped feedback, confrontational techniques, cognitive therapy, group therapy, game formats and behavioural intervention. These approaches are examined in terms of their theoretical bases and research evidence. A distinction is made between intervention approaches for unawareness due to neurocognitive factors and approaches for unawareness due to psychological factors. The socio-cultural context of unawareness is a third factor presented in a biopsychosocial framework to guide clinical decisions about awareness interventions. The ethical and methodological concerns associated with research on awareness interventions are discussed. The main considerations relate to the embedded nature of awareness interventions within rehabilitation programmes, the need for individually tailored interventions, differing responses according to the nature of unawareness, and the risk of eliciting emotional distress in some clients.
Topics: Awareness; Brain Injuries; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Humans
PubMed: 16864483
DOI: 10.1080/09602010500505518 -
Neuroreport Dec 2002Imitation is a characteristic but little-understood function of the human brain and of some higher animals. The direct matching hypothesis suggests that a specialised...
Imitation is a characteristic but little-understood function of the human brain and of some higher animals. The direct matching hypothesis suggests that a specialised brain circuit is able to extract and directly copy the motor commands of another person's observed actions. Here we investigate how conscious people are of this kind of imitation. We first showed that imitation reactions are faster than simple visual reaction times, consistent with a direct matching circuit in the CNS. We next compared the perceived time of imitation reactions in 17 healthy subjects with other kinds of actions. We found a significant delay in subjects' awareness of their own imitation reactions. Thus, while imitation reactions are unusually fast, subjects are not aware of this. The brain's direct-matching circuit for imitation partly bypasses conscious awareness.
Topics: Adult; Awareness; Brain; Female; Humans; Imitative Behavior; Male; Reaction Time; Time Perception
PubMed: 12499862
DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200212200-00030 -
Brain Research. Brain Research Reviews Nov 2005Our understanding of when the fetus can experience pain has been largely shaped by neuroanatomy. However, completion of the cortical nociceptive connections just after... (Review)
Review
Our understanding of when the fetus can experience pain has been largely shaped by neuroanatomy. However, completion of the cortical nociceptive connections just after mid-gestation is only one part of the story. In addition to critically reviewing evidence for whether the fetus is ever awake or aware, and thus able to truly experience pain, we examine the role of endogenous neuro-inhibitors, such as adenosine and pregnanolone, produced within the feto-placental unit that contribute to fetal sleep states, and thus mediate suppression of fetal awareness. The uncritical view that the nature of presumed fetal pain perception can be assessed by reference to the prematurely born infant is challenged. Rigorously controlled studies of invasive procedures and analgesia in the fetus are required to clarify the impact of fetal nociception on postnatal pain sensitivity and neural development, and the potential benefits or harm of using analgesia in this unique setting.
Topics: Adult; Animals; Awareness; Behavior; Cerebral Cortex; Female; Fetus; Humans; Pain; Physical Stimulation; Pregnancy
PubMed: 16269314
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2005.01.006 -
Human Factors Aug 2023The goal of this systematic literature review is to investigate the relationship between indirect physiological measurements and direct measures of situation awareness...
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this systematic literature review is to investigate the relationship between indirect physiological measurements and direct measures of situation awareness (SA).
BACKGROUND
Across different environments and tasks, assessments of SA are often performed using techniques designed specifically to directly measure SA, such as SAGAT, SPAM, and/or SART. However, research suggests that indirect physiological sensing methods may also be capable of predicting SA. Currently, it is unclear which particular physiological approaches are sensitive to changes in SA.
METHOD
Seven databases were searched using the PRISMA reporting guidelines. Eligibility criteria included human-subject experiments that used at least one direct SA assessment technique, as well as at least one physiological measurement. Information extracted from each article was the physiological metric(s), the direct SA measurement(s), the correlation between these two metrics, and the experimental task(s). All studies underwent a quality assessment.
RESULTS
Twenty-five articles were included in this review. Eye tracking techniques were the most commonly used physiological measures, and correlations between conscious aspects of eye movement measures and direct SA scores were observed. Evidence for cardiovascular predictors of SA were mixed. EEG studies were too few to form strong conclusions, but were consistently positive.
CONCLUSION
Further investigation is needed to methodically collect more relevant data and comprehensively model the relationships between a wider range of physiological measurements and direct assessments of SA.
APPLICATION
This review will guide researchers and practitioners in methods to indirectly assess SA with sensors and highlight opportunities for future research on wearables and SA.
Topics: Humans; Awareness; Reproducibility of Results; Eye Movements; Forecasting
PubMed: 33241945
DOI: 10.1177/0018720820969071 -
Multisensory Research 2016The integration of information has been considered a hallmark of human consciousness, as it requires information being globally available widespread neural... (Review)
Review
The integration of information has been considered a hallmark of human consciousness, as it requires information being globally available widespread neural interactions. Yet the complex interdependencies between multisensory integration and perceptual awareness, or consciousness, remain to be defined. While perceptual awareness has traditionally been studied in a single sense, in recent years we have witnessed a surge of interest in the role of multisensory integration in perceptual awareness. Based on a recent IMRF symposium on multisensory awareness, this review discusses three key questions from conceptual, methodological and experimental perspectives: (1) What do we study when we study multisensory awareness? (2) What is the relationship between multisensory integration and perceptual awareness? (3) Which experimental approaches are most promising to characterize multisensory awareness? We hope that this review paper will provoke lively discussions, novel experiments, and conceptual considerations to advance our understanding of the multifaceted interplay between multisensory integration and consciousness.
Topics: Awareness; Consciousness; Humans; Perception
PubMed: 27795942
DOI: 10.1163/22134808-00002529 -
Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Apr 2015Studies using backward masked emotional stimuli suggest that affective processing may occur outside visual awareness and imply primacy of affective over semantic...
Studies using backward masked emotional stimuli suggest that affective processing may occur outside visual awareness and imply primacy of affective over semantic processing, yet these experiments have not strictly controlled for the participants' awareness of the stimuli. Here we directly compared the primacy of affective versus semantic categorization of biologically relevant stimuli in 5 experiments (n = 178) using explicit (semantic and affective discrimination; Experiments 1-3) and implicit (semantic and affective priming; Experiments 4-5) measures. The same stimuli were used in semantic and affective tasks. Visual awareness was manipulated by varying exposure duration of the masked stimuli, and subjective level of stimulus awareness was measured after each trial using a 4-point perceptual awareness scale. When participants reported no awareness of the stimuli, semantic and affective categorization were at chance level and priming scores did not differ from zero. When participants were even partially aware of the stimuli, (a) both semantic and affective categorization could be performed above chance level with equal accuracy, (b) semantic categorization was faster than affective categorization, and (c) both semantic and affective priming were observed. Affective categorization speed was linearly dependent on semantic categorization speed, suggesting dependence of affective processing on semantic recognition. Manipulations of affective and semantic categorization tasks revealed a hierarchy of categorization operations beginning with basic-level semantic categorization and ending with superordinate level affective categorization. We conclude that both implicit and explicit affective and semantic categorization is dependent on visual awareness, and that affective recognition follows semantic categorization.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Affect; Awareness; Female; Humans; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Perceptual Masking; Psychomotor Performance; Repetition Priming; Semantics; Young Adult
PubMed: 25559654
DOI: 10.1037/xge0000040