Does the Prefrontal Cortex Play an Essential Role in Consciousness? Insights from Intracranial Electrical Stimulation of the Human Brain

A central debate in philosophy and neuroscience concerns whether prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity is essential for consciousness. This synthesis of research using intracranial electrical stimulation (iES) in humans shows that stimulating only certain prefrontal regions—the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex—reliably alters conscious experience. In contrast, stimulating anterolateral prefrontal sites, often emphasized by higher-order and global workspace theories, rarely produces reportable changes in consciousness. The variety of iES-elicited effects (emotions, thoughts, olfactory and visual hallucinations) shows no clear relation to the immediate environment, challenging the idea that the PFC is the basis for conscious perception. The findings suggest a specific role for orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortices in supporting emotional aspects of conscious experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A central debate in philosophy and neuroscience pertains to whether PFC activity plays an essential role in the neural basis of consciousness. Neuroimaging and electrophysiology studies have revealed that the contents of conscious perceptual experience can be successfully decoded from PFC activity, but these findings might be confounded by postperceptual cognitive processes, such as thinking, reasoning, and decision-making, that are not necessary for consciousness. To clarify the involvement of the PFC in consciousness, we present a synthesis of research that has used intracranial electrical stimulation (iES) for the causal modulation of neural activity in the human PFC. This research provides compelling evidence that iES of only certain prefrontal regions (i.e., orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) reliably perturbs conscious experience. Conversely, stimulation of anterolateral prefrontal sites, often considered crucial in higher-order and global workspace theories of consciousness, seldom elicits any reportable alterations in consciousness. Furthermore, the wide variety of iES-elicited effects in the PFC (e.g., emotions, thoughts, and olfactory and visual hallucinations) exhibits no clear relation to the immediate environment. Therefore, there is no evidence for the kinds of alterations in ongoing perceptual experience that would be predicted by higher-order or global workspace theories. Nevertheless, effects in the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortices suggest a specific role for these PFC subregions in supporting emotional aspects of conscious experience. Overall, this evidence presents a challenge for higher-order and global workspace theories, which commonly point to the PFC as the basis for conscious perception based on correlative and possibly confounded information.