Coupling the State and Contents of Consciousness
Coupling the State and Contents of Consciousness
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DOI：
10.3389/fnsys.2019.00043
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发表时间：
2019-08-30
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Bachmann, Talis
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Aru, Jaan;Suzuki, Mototaka;Bachmann, Talis
意识的一个基本特征是意识的内容取决于意识的状态。在这里，我们提出了一个答案：意识的状态和内容都取决于皮质第 5 层锥体 (L5p) 神经元的活动。这些神经元影响皮质和丘脑的处理，因此将皮质-皮质和丘脑-皮质环相互耦合。从功能上讲，这种耦合对应于状态和意识内容之间的耦合。皮质-皮质环路和丘脑皮质环路一起形成丘脑-皮质广播系统，其中 L5p 细胞是核心元素。这一观点做出了一个相当具体的预测：不包括 L5p 神经元的皮层处理将是无意识的。更一般地说，目前的观点表明 L5p 神经元在意识的机制中发挥着核心作用。
One fundamental feature of consciousness is that the contents of consciousness depend on the state of consciousness. Here, we propose an answer to why this is so: both the state and the contents of consciousness depend on the activity of cortical layer 5 pyramidal (L5p) neurons. These neurons affect both cortical and thalamic processing, hence coupling the cortico-cortical and thalamo-cortical loops with each other. Functionally this coupling corresponds to the coupling between the state and the contents of consciousness. Together the cortico-cortical and thalamocortical loops form a thalamo-cortical broadcasting system, where the L5p cells are the central elements. This perspective makes one quite specific prediction: cortical processing that does not include L5p neurons will be unconscious. More generally, the present perspective suggests that L5p neurons have a central role in the mechanisms underlying consciousness.