http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-10-neural-brain-harder-disrupt-aware.html
We consciously perceive just a small part of the information processed in > the brain – but which information in the brain remains unconscious and > which reaches our consciousness remains a mystery. However, neuroscientists > Natalia Zaretskaya and Andreas Bartels from the Centre for Integrative > Neuroscience (CIN) at the University of Tübingen have now come one step > closer to answering this question. > > Their research, published in *Current Biology*, used a well-known visual > illusion known as 'binocular rivalry' as a technique to make visual images > invisible. Eyes usually both see the same image – binocular rivalry happens > when each eye is shown an entirely different image. Our brains cannot then > decide between the alternatives, and our perception switches back and forth > between the images in a matter of seconds. The two images are 'rivals' for > our attention, and every few seconds they take turns to enter our > consciousness. > > Using this approach the two scientists used a moving and a static picture > to cause perceptual alternations in their test subjects' minds. > Simultaneously they applied magnetic pulses to disturb brain processing in > a 'motion <http://medicalxpress.com/tags/motion/> area' that specifically > processes visual motion <http://medicalxpress.com/tags/visual+motion/>. > The effect was unexpected: 'zapping' activity in the motion area did not > have any effect on how long the moving image was perceived – instead, the > amount of time the static image was perceived grew longer. > > So 'zapping' the motion area while the mind was unconsciously processing > motion meant that it took longer for it to become conscious of the moving > image. When the moving image was being perceived, however, zapping had no > effect. > This result suggests that there is a substantial difference between > conscious and unconscious motion representation in the > brain<http://medicalxpress.com/tags/brain/>. > Whenever motion is unconscious, its neural representation can easily be > disturbed, making it difficult for it to gain the upper hand in the > rivalry. However, once it becomes conscious it apparently becomes more > resistant to disturbance, so that introducing noise has no effect. > Therefore, one correlate of conscious neural codes may be a more stable and > noise-resistant representation of the outside world, which raises the > question of how this neural stability is achieved. Indeed. It is almost as if consciousness is actually trying to make sense *on purpose* ;) Could it be that consciousness is actually *conscious???* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
