Subcortical correlates of consciousness with human single neuron recordings.
eLife May 22, 2025 Michael Pereira, Nathan Faivre, Fosco Bernasconi et al. 3 citations
Neurons in the subthalamic nucleus and thalamus, subcortical brain regions traditionally linked to motor and cognitive control, also play a role in perceptual consciousness. Recording single-neuron activity in patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery, researchers found that a significant proportion of these neurons changed their firing rate while participants anticipated a weak vibrotactile stimulus. The firing rate of 23% of these neurons differed between detected and undetected stimuli. This direct neurophysiological evidence suggests that subcortical structures contribute to conscious detection, challenging the prevailing cortico-centric view of the neural correlates of consciousness.