The olfactory system as the gateway to the neural correlates of consciousness
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2014 Christina Merrick, Christine A. Godwin, Mark W. Geisler et al. 108 citations
Consciousness remains a scientific mystery, but contrasting conscious and unconscious processes offers clues. The olfactory system provides a unique window for this contrast due to its neuroanatomy, cognitive mechanisms, and neural dynamics like brain oscillations. This review argues that for an olfactory content to become conscious, it must engage a large-scale neural network involving broad information integration.