Science (New York, N.Y.)
April 4, 2025
Zepeng Fang, Yuanyuan Dang, An'An Ping et al.
45 citations
The intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei act as a gate to drive prefrontal cortex activity during the emergence of conscious perception. In patients with implanted electrodes performing a visual consciousness task, these nuclei showed earlier and stronger consciousness-related activity compared to ventral nuclei and prefrontal cortex. Transient thalamofrontal neural synchrony and cross-frequency coupling were driven by the θ phase of the intralaminar and medial nuclei during conscious perception.
bioRxiv
April 8, 2024
Zepeng Fang, Yuanyuan Dang, Xiaoli Li et al.
1 citation
preprint
Consciousness-related neural activity in the human brain can be separated into two processes: phenomenal consciousness (early, brief awareness) and access consciousness (later, reportable awareness). Using electrodes implanted in epilepsy patients, researchers found that visual awareness-related brain signals appeared at two distinct latencies—short and long—that originate from different brain regions, except in the lateral prefrontal cortex, where both types mix. Early activity was confined to the side of the brain opposite the visual stimulus, while late activity appeared on both sides. Information flowed from early to late sites, supporting a two-stage model of conscious perception and providing the first direct evidence from intracranial recordings for this division.
NeuroImage
August 15, 2024
Zepeng Fang, Yuanyuan Dang, Xiaoli Li et al.
Neural activity related to visual awareness shows a bimodal latency distribution, with early and late responses in distinct brain regions, except in the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC), which contains both. This suggests the lPFC links phenomenal and access consciousness, though the division is not as simple as previously thought. In four patients with bilateral prefrontal electrodes, early awareness-related activity was only on the opposite side of the brain, while late activity appeared on both sides. Information flowed from early to late sites. These intracranial recordings provide the first local field potential evidence for distinct neural correlates of phenomenal and access consciousness, clarifying their spatiotemporal dynamics.