Arousal modulates auditory attention and awareness: insights from sleep, sedation and disorders of consciousness
Frontiers in Psychology May 22, 2014 Srivas eChennu, Tristan A Bekinschtein
The interplay between top-down and bottom-up attention and consciousness is often examined during sleep, sedation, and disorders of consciousness such as the vegetative state (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS). The auditory oddball paradigm, which elicits the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P300 event-related potentials, is a common tool for assessing cognitive processing in these contexts. The P300 wave can be separated into the earlier P3a, linked to bottom-up attention, and the later P3b, linked to top-down attention. Emerging evidence from healthy volunteers and patients reveals dissociations between attention and awareness across these states, highlighting neurophysiological and cognitive parallels and differences that inform theoretical frameworks.