How chromatic phenomenality largely overflow its cognitive accessibility.

The core neural bases for visual phenomenal consciousness and access consciousness may reside in anatomically separate regions, with phenomenal consciousness located early in the visual cortex where detailed chromatic information is available. During perception, cognitive access to this rich chromatic information is mediated through mereologically superordinate concepts that characterize integrated semantic and quantitative properties of complex visual percepts. These concepts contain much less information than the particulars they characterize, implying that the information in phenomenal consciousness greatly exceeds that in accompanying access consciousness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

It has been suggested (Block, 2007) that the core neural bases for visual phenomenal consciousness and for access consciousness are located in anatomically separate regions. If this is correct, and if, as Block suggests, the core neural substrate of visual phenomenality is located early in the visual cortex where detailed chromatic information is available, then it would be reasonable to infer that our intuitions of chromatically rich visual phenomenality are plausible. It is furthermore suggested that during perception cognitive access to this chromatic cornucopia is mediated through mereologically superordinate (MS) concepts that regionally characterize both semantic and quantitative integrated properties within complex visual percepts. Such concepts contain much less information than do the particulars that they characterize, implying that the information represented in phenomenal consciousness greatly exceeds the information in the accompanying access consciousness.