Abstract
How neural representations of low-level visual information are accessed by higher-order processes to inform decisions and give rise to conscious experience is a longstanding question. Research on perceptual decision making has revealed a late event-related EEG potential (the Centro-Parietal Positivity, CPP) to be a correlate of the accumulation of sensory evidence. We tested how this evidence accumulation signal relates to externally presented (physical) and internally experienced (subjective) sensory evidence. Our results show that the known relationship between the physical strength of the external evidence and the evidence accumulation signal (reflected in the CPP amplitude) is mediated by the level of subjective experience of stimulus strength. This shows that the CPP closely tracks the subjective perceptual evidence, over and above the physically presented evidence. We conclude that a remarkably close relationship exists between the evidence accumulation process (i.e. CPP) and subjective perceptual experience, suggesting that neural decision processes and components of conscious experience are tightly linked.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 4949 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Scientific Reports |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Mar 2019 |
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The EEG signature of sensory evidence accumulation during decision formation closely tracks subjective perceptual experience. / Tagliabue, Chiara F. (Lead / Corresponding author); Veniero, Domenica; Benwell, Christopher S. Y.; Cecere, Roberto; Savazzi, Silvia; Thut, Gregor.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 9, No. 1, 4949, 20.03.2019, p. 1-12.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - The EEG signature of sensory evidence accumulation during decision formation closely tracks subjective perceptual experience
AU - Tagliabue, Chiara F.
AU - Veniero, Domenica
AU - Benwell, Christopher S. Y.
AU - Cecere, Roberto
AU - Savazzi, Silvia
AU - Thut, Gregor
N1 - This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Award to Gregor Thut [Grant Number 098434].
PY - 2019/3/20
Y1 - 2019/3/20
N2 - How neural representations of low-level visual information are accessed by higher-order processes to inform decisions and give rise to conscious experience is a longstanding question. Research on perceptual decision making has revealed a late event-related EEG potential (the Centro-Parietal Positivity, CPP) to be a correlate of the accumulation of sensory evidence. We tested how this evidence accumulation signal relates to externally presented (physical) and internally experienced (subjective) sensory evidence. Our results show that the known relationship between the physical strength of the external evidence and the evidence accumulation signal (reflected in the CPP amplitude) is mediated by the level of subjective experience of stimulus strength. This shows that the CPP closely tracks the subjective perceptual evidence, over and above the physically presented evidence. We conclude that a remarkably close relationship exists between the evidence accumulation process (i.e. CPP) and subjective perceptual experience, suggesting that neural decision processes and components of conscious experience are tightly linked.
AB - How neural representations of low-level visual information are accessed by higher-order processes to inform decisions and give rise to conscious experience is a longstanding question. Research on perceptual decision making has revealed a late event-related EEG potential (the Centro-Parietal Positivity, CPP) to be a correlate of the accumulation of sensory evidence. We tested how this evidence accumulation signal relates to externally presented (physical) and internally experienced (subjective) sensory evidence. Our results show that the known relationship between the physical strength of the external evidence and the evidence accumulation signal (reflected in the CPP amplitude) is mediated by the level of subjective experience of stimulus strength. This shows that the CPP closely tracks the subjective perceptual evidence, over and above the physically presented evidence. We conclude that a remarkably close relationship exists between the evidence accumulation process (i.e. CPP) and subjective perceptual experience, suggesting that neural decision processes and components of conscious experience are tightly linked.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063281753&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-019-41024-4
DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-41024-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 30894558
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 4949
ER -