Toward a Theory of Consciousness: A Review of The Neural Correlates of Inattentional Blindness.

A review of neuroscientific studies using inattentional blindness—where people fail to see an unexpected object because their attention is elsewhere—finds clear evidence that visual processing up to intermediate stages (such as visual features and orthographic processing) occurs even when people are unaware of a stimulus. The most common brain activity markers linked to awareness are the visual awareness negativity and post-stimulus alpha suppression, while key brain regions involved include the lateral occipital cortex, temporoparietal junction, and intraparietal sulcus. The authors address limitations of this literature and recommend how future inattentional blindness research can advance neuroscientific theories of consciousness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The neuroscientific study of consciousness involves examining candidate markers of consciousness under conditions where awareness varies. One such method for manipulating awareness is inattentional blindness. Whereas other methods of studying consciousness have been reviewed elsewhere, there has been little effort toward cataloguing work which has studied inattentional blindness using neuroscientific methodology. We address this by reviewing this body of literature, with key importance placed on how research informs a neuroscience of consciousness and the degree to which visual processing occurs in the absence of attention and awareness. Findings demonstrate clear evidence that processing up to intermediate stages (e.g. visual features, orthographic processing) occurs, even during inattentional blindness. The most commonly observed neurophysiological correlates associated with awareness include the visual awareness negativity and post-stimulus alpha suppression, whereas neuroanatomical markers include the lateral occipital cortex, the temporoparietal junction, and the intraparietal sulcus. We conclude by addressing the limitations this literature has been challenged with and offer recommendations for how future work on inattentional blindness can aid in advancing neuroscientific theories of consciousness.