Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39535504›Full record

ArticleCerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)2024

Neural signatures of visual awareness independent of postperceptual processing.

Michael A Cohen, Cole Dembski, Kevin Ortego, Clay Steinhibler, Michael Pitts

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Covert consciousness: what's in a name?Brain : a journal of neurology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Michael A CohenMcGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 46-4141, Cambridge MA, 02140, United States.
Cole DembskiDepartment of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Amherst College, 220 South Pleasant St, Amherst MA, 01002, United States.
Kevin OrtegoDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, 3 Maynard St., Hanover NH, 03755, United States.
Clay SteinhiblerDepartment of Psychology, Reed College, 3203 Southeast Woodstock Blvd, Portland OR, 97202, United States.
Michael PittsDepartment of Psychology, Reed College, 3203 Southeast Woodstock Blvd, Portland OR, 97202, United States.

Funding

American Psychological FoundationCanadian Institute for Advanced ResearchNational Science Foundation BCS-1829470Stillman Drake Fund for Faculty DevelopmentTWCF TWCF-2022-30267
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

What are the neural processes associated with perceptual awareness that are distinct from preconscious sensory encoding and postperceptual processes such as reporting an experience? Using electroencephalography and a no-report visual masking paradigm, we manipulated stimulus visibility by varying the time between stimuli and masks in linear steps (17, 33, 50, 67, and 83 ms). Awareness increased nonlinearly, with stimuli never seen at the two shortest intervals, always seen at the two longest, and 50% seen at the intermediate interval. Separate report and no-report conditions were used to isolate awareness from task performance. Our results revealed a neural signal closely linked to perceptual awareness, independent of the task: a fronto-central event-related potential that we refer to as the N2 (~250 to 300 ms). Earlier event-related potential signals reflected the linear manipulation of stimulus strength, while later signals like P3b and temporal generalization of decoding were tied to task performance, appearing only in the report condition. Taken together, these findings inform current debates regarding theories of consciousness and offer new avenues for exploring the neural mechanisms supporting conscious processing.

Indexed as

AwarenessElectroencephalographyVisual PerceptionAdolescentAdultBrainEvoked PotentialsFemaleHumansMalePerceptual MaskingPhotic StimulationYoung AdultattentionawarenessconsciousnessEEGperceptionvision

Identifiers

PMID39535504
PMCPMC11558846

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.