Subcortical correlates of consciousness with human single neuron recordings

Current methods to investigate the neural correlates of consciousness aim at contrasting the neural activity associated with different percepts under constant sensory stimulation to identify the minimal set of neuronal events sufficient for a specific conscious percept to occur (Koch et al., 2016; Seth and Bayne, 2022). Typically, this involves asking participants to report whether a stimulus with an intensity around detection threshold is present or not. Taking advantage of the wealth of invasive electrophysiology recordings available, researchers have documented such correlates with detection tasks in rodents (Schmack et al., 2021), birds (Nieder et al., 2020), and nonhuman primates (de Lafuente and Romo, 2006). However, the use of animal models to study consciousness raises specific ethical concerns (Mazor et al., 2023) and requires interpreting behavioral responses with caution (Birch et al., 2022). Research into the neural correlates of consciousness in human volunteers is enriched by the analysis of fine-grained subjective reports to rule out various confounds (e.g. attention, memory, report), but suffers from less spatially and temporally resolved physiological measurements. Indeed, only very few studies have found such correlates at the single neuron level (Fried et al., 1997; Gelbard-Sagiv et al., 2018; Pereira et al., 2021; Quiroga et al., 2008; Reber et al., 2017) and only in cortical regions. The role of subcortical structures for perceptual consciousness is theoretically relevant (Aru et al., 2020; Dehaene and Changeux, 2011; Schiff, 2008; Seth and Bayne, 2022; Ward, 2013) with some empirical support from detection studies in nonhuman primates (Haegens et al., 2014; Tauste Campo et al., 2019; Vázquez et al., 2012; Vázquez et al., 2013), as well as functional imaging or local field potentials in humans (Kronemer et al., 2022; Levinson et al., 2021). Nonetheless, it remains unknown how the firing rate of subcortical neurons changes when a stimulus is consciously perceived. Single-unit recordings provide a much higher temporal resolution than functional imaging, which helps assess how the neural correlates of consciousness unfold over time. Contrary to local field potentials, single-unit recordings can expose the variety of functional roles of neurons within subcortical regions, thereby offering a potential for a better mechanistic understanding of perceptual consciousness. Here, we recorded individual neurons from the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and thalamus of human participants during 36 deep brain stimulation surgeries. Participants detected vibrotactile stimuli provided at the perceptual threshold, and we tested how neurons in both subcortical structures were modulated by the task, the onset of the stimulus, or the detection or not of the stimulus.

The importance of cortico-subcortical loops for physiological and cognitive functions is well established (Shepherd and Yamawaki, 2021). Yet, while the role of subcortical structures in perceptual consciousness is largely acknowledged (Aru et al., 2020; Dehaene and Changeux, 2011; Koch et al., 2016; Shepherd and Yamawaki, 2021; Ward, 2013), it remains poorly described in humans. This limit is likely due to the difficulty of recording subcortical activity in awake humans capable of providing conscious reports under controlled experimental conditions. We report the first intraoperative recordings of subcortical neurons in awake individuals during a detection task. By imposing a delay between the end of the tactile stimulation window and the subjective report, we ensured that neuronal responses reflected stimulus detection and not mere motor responses. In addition, because stimuli were applied on the palm, we asked participants to provide detection responses orally to avoid confounding neural activity related to sensory and motor processes of the upper limb. Our main result is that the activity of subcortical neurons covaries with subjective reports following the presentation of detected vs missed tactile stimuli. This result confirms that the neuronal underpinnings of tactile detection can be observed at the scale of single neurons in humans (Fried et al., 1997; Gelbard-Sagiv et al., 2018; Pereira et al., 2021; Quiroga et al., 2008; Reber et al., 2017) but also shows for the first time that they are not limited to the cortex.

Our findings that neurons in the thalamus modulate their activity according to tactile detection add to the existing evidence in favor of the role of the thalamus for perceptual consciousness. Indeed, thalamic activity and, more precisely, thalamocortical loops are often considered key to gate sensory stimuli to conscious access (Ward, 2013). In nonhuman primates, for example, oscillatory thalamic activity predicts tactile detection (Haegens et al., 2014), and functional interactions between the somatosensory thalamus and the cortex increase when a tactile stimulus is detected (Tauste Campo et al., 2019). In humans, thalamic local field potentials and fMRI activity were higher for seen vs unseen stimuli (Kronemer et al., 2022; Levinson et al., 2021), and causal effects of thalamic stimulation on the levels of consciousness have been found (Schiff et al., 2007). Future studies with higher neuronal yields will be helpful in assessing the contribution of distinct thalamic territories to tactile consciousness, focusing notably on the ventral caudal part, which contains neurons with tactile receptive fields. Moreover, given the prominent role of the thalamus in multisensory processing (Yang et al., 2025), it will be interesting to assess if it is specifically involved in tactile consciousness or if it has a supramodal contribution, akin to what is found in the cortex (Filimonov et al., 2022; Noel et al., 2018; Sanchez et al., 2020).

Concerning the STN, a possibility is that perception-selective neurons determine stimulus detection through the regulation of decisional processes. Indeed, previous studies reported a modulatory role of subthalamic activity on decisional processes, notably by elevating the decisional threshold on accumulated sensory evidence (Bogacz and Gurney, 2007; Cavanagh et al., 2011; Green et al., 2013; Herz et al., 2016). In a recent study in which we measured the activity of cortical neurons in a similar task, we showed that evidence accumulation is also at play during conscious detection (Pereira et al., 2021). Based on this finding, we proposed that percepts fade in and out of consciousness when evidence accumulated by cortical neurons passes a given threshold (Pereira et al., 2022). The present results, therefore, indicate that the contribution of subthalamic neurons to decisional processes is not limited to discrimination tasks or motor planning, but may also regulate the threshold at which accumulated evidence gives rise to a conscious percept. Considering the inhibitory role of the STN on the cortex (Mink, 1996), the fact that many of the perception-selective neurons we found had higher firing rates for misses than for hits suggests a role in elevating that threshold, similar to what is found in decision tasks manipulating conflict or cautiousness and requiring immediate responses (Bastin et al., 2014; Cavanagh et al., 2011; Frank et al., 2007; Herz et al., 2016; Mosher et al., 2021). Thus, our results suggest that the STN plays an important role in a subcortical network gating conscious access, although it might not encode conscious content per se (Aru et al., 2012).

Apart from perception-selective neurons, we also found a distinct population of neurons in both the STN and thalamus that modulated their firing rate both after the cue and during the task, and therefore much before the stimulus onset. These neurons cannot be involved in detection-related processes but could instead be involved in task switching (Hikosaka and Isoda, 2010; Laquitaine et al., 2024). Microelectrode recordings could therefore reconcile the multiple roles ascribed to subcortical structures by exposing the variety of functional roles of the neurons inside those regions. We also found neurons that modulated their firing rates after the stimulus onset, irrespective of detection, similar to animal works in the STN (Al Tannir et al., 2023; Coizet et al., 2009) and thalamus (Tauste Campo et al., 2019; Vázquez et al., 2012). Our results should be taken with caution as they are based on a small number of neurons due to the high complexity of intraoperative recordings, and because the number of trials we could collect was not sufficient to test the computational mechanisms underlying the neuronal activity we recorded. Interestingly, we found that both sensory and perception effects could be grouped into an early and a late cluster. The early cluster’s average timing around 150 ms post-stimulus corresponds to the onset of a putative cortical correlate of tactile consciousness, the somatosensory awareness negativity (Dembski et al., 2021). Similar electroencephalographic markers are found in the visual and auditory modality. It is unclear, however, whether these markers are related to perceptual consciousness or selective attention (Dembski et al., 2021). The late cluster is centered around 300 ms and could correspond to a well-known electroencephalographic marker, the P3b (Polich, 2007), whose association with perceptual consciousness has been questioned (Dembski et al., 2021; Pitts et al., 2014), although brain activity related to consciousness has been observed at similar timing even in the absence of report demands (Sergent et al., 2021; Stockart et al., 2024). It is also important to note that these clusters contain neurons with both increased and decreased firing rates following the stimulus onset, similar to what was observed previously in the posterior parietal cortex (Pereira et al., 2021). Future studies ruling out the presence of motor preparation triggered by perceived stimuli (Bennur and Gold, 2011; Fang et al., 2024; Twomey et al., 2016) and verifying that similar neuronal activity occurs in the absence of task demands (no-reports; Tsuchiya et al., 2015) or attention (Wyart and Tallon-Baudry, 2008) will be useful to support that subcortical neurons contribute specifically to perceptual consciousness.

In sum, our study provides neurophysiological evidence from single neurons in humans that subcortical structures play a significant role in tactile detection either by themselves (Ward, 2013) or through their numerous connections with the cortex (Dehaene and Changeux, 2011). A comprehensive account of the neural correlates of consciousness should, therefore, not be cortico-centric but also consider subcortical contributions.

The data and code necessary to replicate our results are available online (https://gitlab.com/michael.pereira/subcortical-ncc copy archived at Pereira, 2025).Further information and requests should be directed to and will be fulfilled by the lead contact, Michael Pereira (michael.pereira@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr).

1. 1. Al Tannir R
   2. Pautrat A
   3. Baufreton J
   4. Overton PG
   5. Coizet V

   (2023) The subthalamic nucleus: a hub for sensory control via short three- lateral loop connections with the brainstem?

   Current Neuropharmacology 21:22–30.

   https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159X20666220718113548

   • PubMed
   • Google Scholar
2. 1. Aru J
   2. Bachmann T
   3. Singer W
   4. Melloni L

   (2012) Distilling the neural correlates of consciousness

   Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 36:737–746.

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.003

   • Google Scholar
3. 1. Aru J
   2. Suzuki M
   3. Larkum ME

   (2020) Cellular mechanisms of conscious processing

   Trends in Cognitive Sciences 24:814–825.

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.07.006

   • Google Scholar
4. 1. Bastin J
   2. Polosan M
   3. Benis D
   4. Goetz L
   5. Bhattacharjee M
   6. Piallat B
   7. Krainik A
   8. Bougerol T
   9. Chabardès S
   10. David O

   (2014) Inhibitory control and error monitoring by human subthalamic neurons

   Translational Psychiatry 4:e439.

   https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2014.73

   • PubMed
   • Google Scholar
5. 1. Bennur S
   2. Gold JI

   (2011) Distinct representations of a perceptual decision and the associated oculomotor plan in the monkey lateral intraparietal area

   The Journal of Neuroscience 31:913–921.

   https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4417-10.2011

   • PubMed
   • Google Scholar
6. 1. Birch J
   2. Broom DM
   3. Browning H
   4. Crump A
   5. Ginsburg S
   6. Halina M
   7. Harrison D
   8. Jablonka E
   9. Lee AY
   10. Kammerer F
   11. Klein C
   12. Lamme V
   13. Michel M
   14. Wemelsfelder F
   15. Zacks O

   (2022) How should we study animal consciousness scientifically?

   Journal of Consciousness Studies 29:8–28.

   https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.29.3.008

   • Google Scholar
7. 1. Bogacz R
   2. Gurney K

   (2007) The basal ganglia and cortex implement optimal decision making between alternative actions

   Neural Computation 19:442–477.

   https://doi.org/10.1162/neco.2007.19.2.442

   • PubMed
   • Google Scholar
8. 1. Brainard DH

   (1997)

   The psychophysics toolbox

   Spatial Vision 10:433–436.

   • PubMed
   • Google Scholar
9. 1. Cavanagh JF
   2. Wiecki TV
   3. Cohen MX
   4. Figueroa CM
   5. Samanta J
   6. Sherman SJ
   7. Frank MJ

   (2011) Subthalamic nucleus stimulation reverses mediofrontal influence over decision threshold

   Nature Neuroscience 14:1462–1467.

   https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2925

   • PubMed
   • Google Scholar
10. 1. Coizet V
    2. Graham JH
    3. Moss J
    4. Bolam JP
    5. Savasta M
    6. McHaffie JG
    7. Redgrave P
    8. Overton PG

    (2009) Short-latency visual input to the subthalamic nucleus is provided by the midbrain superior colliculus

    The Journal of Neuroscience 29:5701–5709.

    https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0247-09.2009

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
11. 1. Dehaene S
    2. Changeux JP

    (2011) Experimental and theoretical approaches to conscious processing

    Neuron 70:200–227.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.018

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
12. 1. de Lafuente V
    2. Romo R

    (2006) Neural correlate of subjective sensory experience gradually builds up across cortical areas

    PNAS 103:14266–14271.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0605826103

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
13. 1. Dembski C
    2. Koch C
    3. Pitts M

    (2021) Perceptual awareness negativity: a physiological correlate of sensory consciousness

    Trends in Cognitive Sciences 25:660–670.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2021.05.009

    • Google Scholar
14. 1. Fang Z
    2. Dang Y
    3. Ling Z
    4. Han Y
    5. Zhao H
    6. Xu X
    7. Zhang M

    (2024) The involvement of the human prefrontal cortex in the emergence of visual awareness

    eLife 12:RP89076.

    https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89076

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
15. 1. Filimonov D
    2. Railo H
    3. Revonsuo A
    4. Koivisto M

    (2022) Modality-specific and modality-general electrophysiological correlates of visual and auditory awareness: evidence from a bimodal ERP experiment

    Neuropsychologia 166:108154.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108154

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
16. 1. Frank MJ
    2. Samanta J
    3. Moustafa AA
    4. Sherman SJ

    (2007) Hold your horses: impulsivity, deep brain stimulation, and medication in parkinsonism

    Science 318:1309–1312.

    https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1146157

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
17. 1. Fried I
    2. MacDonald KA
    3. Wilson CL

    (1997) Single neuron activity in human hippocampus and amygdala during recognition of faces and objects

    Neuron 18:753–765.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80315-3

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
18. 1. Gelbard-Sagiv H
    2. Mudrik L
    3. Hill MR
    4. Koch C
    5. Fried I

    (2018) Human single neuron activity precedes emergence of conscious perception

    Nature Communications 9:2057.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03749-0

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
19. 1. Green N
    2. Bogacz R
    3. Huebl J
    4. Beyer AK
    5. Kühn AA
    6. Heekeren HR

    (2013) Reduction of influence of task difficulty on perceptual decision making by STN deep brain stimulation

    Current Biology 23:1681–1684.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.07.001

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
20. 1. Haegens S
    2. Vázquez Y
    3. Zainos A
    4. Alvarez M
    5. Jensen O
    6. Romo R

    (2014) Thalamocortical rhythms during a vibrotactile detection task

    PNAS 111:E1797–E1805.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1405516111

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
21. 1. Herz DM
    2. Zavala BA
    3. Bogacz R
    4. Brown P

    (2016) Neural correlates of decision thresholds in the human subthalamic nucleus

    Current Biology 26:916–920.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.051

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
22. 1. Hikosaka O
    2. Isoda M

    (2010) Switching from automatic to controlled behavior: cortico-basal ganglia mechanisms

    Trends in Cognitive Sciences 14:154–161.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.006

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
23. 1. Ilinsky I
    2. Horn A
    3. Paul-Gilloteaux P
    4. Gressens P
    5. Verney C
    6. Kultas-Ilinsky K

    (2018) Human motor thalamus reconstructed in 3d from continuous sagittal sections with identified subcortical afferent territories

    eNeuro 5:ENEURO.0060-18.2018.

    https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0060-18.2018

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
24. 1. Kleiner M
    2. Brainard D
    3. Pelli D
    4. Murray R
    5. Broussard C

    (2007) What’s new in psychtoolbox-3

    Perception 36:1–16.

    https://doi.org/10.1068/v070821

    • Google Scholar
25. 1. Koch C
    2. Massimini M
    3. Boly M
    4. Tononi G

    (2016) Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems

    Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 17:307–321.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.22

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
26. 1. Kronemer SI
    2. Aksen M
    3. Ding JZ
    4. Ryu JH
    5. Xin Q
    6. Ding Z
    7. Prince JS
    8. Kwon H
    9. Khalaf A
    10. Forman S
    11. Jin DS
    12. Wang K
    13. Chen K
    14. Hu C
    15. Agarwal A
    16. Saberski E
    17. Wafa SMA
    18. Morgan OP
    19. Wu J
    20. Christison-Lagay KL
    21. Hasulak N
    22. Morrell M
    23. Urban A
    24. Todd Constable R
    25. Pitts M
    26. Mark Richardson R
    27. Crowley MJ
    28. Blumenfeld H

    (2022) Human visual consciousness involves large scale cortical and subcortical networks independent of task report and eye movement activity

    Nature Communications 13:7342.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35117-4

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
27. 1. Laquitaine M
    2. Polosan M
    3. Kahane P
    4. Chabardes S
    5. Yelnik J
    6. Fernandez-Vidal S
    7. Domenech P
    8. Bastin J

    (2024) Optimal level of human intracranial theta activity for behavioral switching in the subthalamo-medio-prefrontal circuit

    Nature Communications 15:7827.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52290-w

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
28. 1. Levinson M
    2. Podvalny E
    3. Baete SH
    4. He BJ

    (2021) Cortical and subcortical signatures of conscious object recognition

    Nature Communications 12:2930.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23266-x

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
29. 1. Levitt H

    (1971) Transformed up-down methods in psychoacoustics

    The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 49:467–477.

    https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1912375

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
30. 1. Maris E
    2. Oostenveld R

    (2007) Nonparametric statistical testing of EEG- and MEG-data

    Journal of Neuroscience Methods 164:177–190.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2007.03.024

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
31. 1. Mazor M
    2. Brown S
    3. Ciaunica A
    4. Demertzi A
    5. Fahrenfort J
    6. Faivre N
    7. Francken JC
    8. Lamy D
    9. Lenggenhager B
    10. Moutoussis M
    11. Nizzi MC
    12. Salomon R
    13. Soto D
    14. Stein T
    15. Lubianiker N

    (2023) The scientific study of consciousness cannot and should not be morally neutral

    Perspectives on Psychological Science 18:535–543.

    https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221110222

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
32. 1. Mink JW

    (1996) The basal ganglia: focused selection and inhibition of competing motor programs

    Progress in Neurobiology 50:381–425.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/s0301-0082(96)00042-1

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
33. 1. Mosher CP
    2. Mamelak AN
    3. Malekmohammadi M
    4. Pouratian N
    5. Rutishauser U

    (2021) Distinct roles of dorsal and ventral subthalamic neurons in action selection and cancellation

    Neuron 109:869–881.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.12.025

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
34. 1. Nieder A
    2. Wagener L
    3. Rinnert P

    (2020) A neural correlate of sensory consciousness in a corvid bird

    Science 369:1626–1629.

    https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb1447

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
35. 1. Noel JP
    2. Simon D
    3. Thelen A
    4. Maier A
    5. Blake R
    6. Wallace MT

    (2018) Probing electrophysiological indices of perceptual awareness across unisensory and multisensory modalities

    Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 30:814–828.

    https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01247

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
36. 1. Pelli DG

    (1997) The VideoToolbox software for visual psychophysics: transforming numbers into movies

    Spatial Vision 10:437–442.

    https://doi.org/10.1163/156856897X00366

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
37. 1. Pereira M
    2. Megevand P
    3. Tan MX
    4. Chang W
    5. Wang S
    6. Rezai A
    7. Seeck M
    8. Corniola M
    9. Momjian S
    10. Bernasconi F
    11. Blanke O
    12. Faivre N

    (2021) Evidence accumulation relates to perceptual consciousness and monitoring

    Nature Communications 12:3261.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23540-y

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
38. 1. Pereira M
    2. Perrin D
    3. Faivre N

    (2022) A leaky evidence accumulation process for perceptual experience

    Trends in Cognitive Sciences 26:451–461.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.03.003

    • Google Scholar
39. Software

    1. Pereira M

    (2025) Subcortical ncc, version swh:1:rev:45a9cee263375dcd81b60b5b71c73804711d9f0d

    Software Heritage.

    https://archive.softwareheritage.org/swh:1:dir:2e8c061bdde992590d7629232400f6345305441a;origin=https://gitlab.com/michael.pereira/subcortical-ncc;visit=swh:1:snp:e8586a85acca00f78dd2baa0189d789b527acd34;anchor=swh:1:rev:45a9cee263375dcd81b60b5b71c73804711d9f0d
40. 1. Pitts MA
    2. Padwal J
    3. Fennelly D
    4. Martínez A
    5. Hillyard SA

    (2014) Gamma band activity and the P3 reflect post-perceptual processes, not visual awareness

    NeuroImage 101:337–350.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.07.024

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
41. 1. Polich J

    (2007) Updating P300: an integrative theory of P3a and P3b

    Clinical Neurophysiology 118:2128–2148.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2007.04.019

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
42. 1. Quiroga RQ
    2. Mukamel R
    3. Isham EA
    4. Malach R
    5. Fried I

    (2008) Human single-neuron responses at the threshold of conscious recognition

    PNAS 105:3599–3604.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707043105

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
43. Software

    1. R Development Core Team

    (2013) R:a language and environment for statistical computing

    R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.

    https://www.r-project.org
44. 1. Reber TP
    2. Faber J
    3. Niediek J
    4. Boström J
    5. Elger CE
    6. Mormann F

    (2017) Single-neuron correlates of conscious perception in the human medial temporal lobe

    Current Biology 27:2991–2998.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.025

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
45. 1. Rutishauser U
    2. Schuman EM
    3. Mamelak AN

    (2006) Online detection and sorting of extracellularly recorded action potentials in human medial temporal lobe recordings, in vivo

    Journal of Neuroscience Methods 154:204–224.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.12.033

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
46. 1. Sanchez G
    2. Hartmann T
    3. Fuscà M
    4. Demarchi G
    5. Weisz N

    (2020) Decoding across sensory modalities reveals common supramodal signatures of conscious perception

    PNAS 117:7437–7446.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1912584117

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
47. 1. Schiff ND
    2. Giacino JT
    3. Kalmar K
    4. Victor JD
    5. Baker K
    6. Gerber M
    7. Fritz B
    8. Eisenberg B
    9. Biondi T
    10. O’Connor J
    11. Kobylarz EJ
    12. Farris S
    13. Machado A
    14. McCagg C
    15. Plum F
    16. Fins JJ
    17. Rezai AR

    (2007) Behavioural improvements with thalamic stimulation after severe traumatic brain injury

    Nature 448:600–603.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06041

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
48. 1. Schiff ND

    (2008) Central thalamic contributions to arousal regulation and neurological disorders of consciousness

    Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1129:105–118.

    https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1417.029

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
49. 1. Schmack K
    2. Bosc M
    3. Ott T
    4. Sturgill JF
    5. Kepecs A

    (2021) Striatal dopamine mediates hallucination-like perception in mice

    Science 372:eabf4740.

    https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf4740

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
50. 1. Sergent C
    2. Corazzol M
    3. Labouret G
    4. Stockart F
    5. Wexler M
    6. King JR
    7. Meyniel F
    8. Pressnitzer D

    (2021) Bifurcation in brain dynamics reveals a signature of conscious processing independent of report

    Nature Communications 12:1149.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21393-z

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
51. 1. Seth AK
    2. Bayne T

    (2022) Theories of consciousness

    Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 23:439–452.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-022-00587-4

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
52. 1. Shepherd GMG
    2. Yamawaki N

    (2021) Untangling the cortico-thalamo-cortical loop: cellular pieces of a knotty circuit puzzle

    Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 22:389–406.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-021-00459-3

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
53. Preprint

    1. Stockart F
    2. Msheik R
    3. Robin A
    4. Jurkovičová L
    5. Goueytes D
    6. Rouy M
    7. Mareček R
    8. Hoffmann D
    9. Mudrik L
    10. Roman R
    11. Brázdil M
    12. Minotti L
    13. Kahane P
    14. Pereira M
    15. Faivre N

    (2024) Cortical evidence accumulation for perceptual experience occurs irrespective of reports

    bioRxiv.

    https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.20.585198

    • Google Scholar
54. 1. Tauste Campo A
    2. Vázquez Y
    3. Álvarez M
    4. Zainos A
    5. Rossi-Pool R
    6. Deco G
    7. Romo R

    (2019) Feed-forward information and zero-lag synchronization in the sensory thalamocortical circuit are modulated during stimulus perception

    PNAS 116:7513–7522.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819095116

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
55. 1. Tsuchiya N
    2. Wilke M
    3. Frässle S
    4. Lamme VAF

    (2015) No-report paradigms: extracting the true neural correlates of consciousness

    Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19:757–770.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.10.002

    • Google Scholar
56. 1. Twomey DM
    2. Kelly SP
    3. O’Connell RG

    (2016) Abstract and effector-selective decision signals exhibit qualitatively distinct dynamics before delayed perceptual reports

    The Journal of Neuroscience 36:7346–7352.

    https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4162-15.2016

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
57. 1. Vázquez Y
    2. Zainos A
    3. Alvarez M
    4. Salinas E
    5. Romo R

    (2012) Neural coding and perceptual detection in the primate somatosensory thalamus

    PNAS 109:15006–15011.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1212535109

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
58. 1. Vázquez Y
    2. Salinas E
    3. Romo R

    (2013) Transformation of the neural code for tactile detection from thalamus to cortex

    PNAS 110:E2635–E2644.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1309728110

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
59. 1. Ward LM

    (2013) The thalamus: gateway to the mind

    Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science 4:609–622.

    https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1256

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
60. 1. Wickham H
    2. Averick M
    3. Bryan J
    4. Chang W
    5. McGowan L
    6. François R
    7. Grolemund G
    8. Hayes A
    9. Henry L
    10. Hester J
    11. Kuhn M
    12. Pedersen T
    13. Miller E
    14. Bache S
    15. Müller K
    16. Ooms J
    17. Robinson D
    18. Seidel D
    19. Spinu V
    20. Takahashi K
    21. Vaughan D
    22. Wilke C
    23. Woo K
    24. Yutani H

    (2019) Welcome to the tidyverse

    Journal of Open Source Software 4:1686.

    https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01686

    • Google Scholar
61. 1. Wyart V
    2. Tallon-Baudry C

    (2008) Neural dissociation between visual awareness and spatial attention

    The Journal of Neuroscience 28:2667–2679.

    https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4748-07.2008

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar
62. 1. Yang M
    2. Keller D
    3. Dobolyi A
    4. Valtcheva S

    (2025) The lateral thalamus: a bridge between multisensory processing and naturalistic behaviors

    Trends in Neurosciences 48:33–46.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2024.11.005

    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar

Author details

1. Michael Pereira

   1. Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
   2. Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
   3. University Grenoble Alpes, Inserm U1216, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble Institut Neurosciences, Grenoble, France

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

   Contributed equally with

   Nathan Faivre and Fosco Bernasconi

   For correspondence

   michael.pereira@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0778-674X

2. Nathan Faivre

   1. Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
   2. University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, Grenoble, France

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

   Contributed equally with

   Michael Pereira and Fosco Bernasconi

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6011-4921

3. Fosco Bernasconi

   Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

   Contributed equally with

   Michael Pereira and Nathan Faivre

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

4. Nicholas Brandmeir

   Departments of Neurosurgery, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States

   Contribution

   Investigation, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

5. Jacob E Suffridge

   1. Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
   2. Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, United States

   Contribution

   Investigation, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

6. Kaylee Tran

   Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States

   Contribution

   Investigation, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

7. Shuo Wang

   1. Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
   2. Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, United States
   3. Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Resources, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   Reviewing editor, eLife

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-2562-0225

8. Victor Finomore

   Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States

   Contribution

   Project administration, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

9. Peter Konrad

   Departments of Neurosurgery, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States

   Contribution

   Investigation, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

10. Ali Rezai

    1. Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
    2. Departments of Neurosurgery, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States

    Contribution

    Supervision, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Writing – review and editing

    Contributed equally with

    Olaf Blanke

    Competing interests

    No competing interests declared

11. Olaf Blanke

    1. Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
    2. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Contribution

    Conceptualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Writing – review and editing

    Contributed equally with

    Ali Rezai

    Competing interests

    O.B. is cofounder and shareholder of Metaphysiks Engineering SA. O.B. is member of the board and shareholder of Mindmaze SA

• 552

  views

• 46

  downloads

• 0

  citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.