Acute requirement for the hippocampus in putatively conscious vision revealed by a mouse model of blindsight.
Current biology : CB April 20, 2026 Nikhil Bhatla, Kathryn Cheong, Sho Takahashi et al.
After removing the primary visual cortex (V1) in mice, they lose putatively conscious vision only if the dorsolateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) in the thalamus is also damaged. Suppressing the hippocampus acutely produces blindsight-like behavior, suggesting the hippocampus supports conscious but not unconscious vision in the intact brain. Simultaneous ablation of V1 and the hippocampus causes blindsight-like behavior, while single ablation of either has only minor effects, indicating these two areas can compensate for each other's permanent loss. This reveals a novel form of plasticity supporting conscious vision and positions the hippocampus as a candidate brain area critical for conscious experience.