A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State Generation

Consciousness is known to be limited in processing capacity and often described in terms of a unique processing stream across a single dimension: time. In this paper, we discuss a purely temporal pattern code, functionally decoupled from spatial signals, for conscious state generation in the brain....

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Main Authors: Birgitta Dresp-Langley, Jean Durup
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2009-01-01
Series:Neural Plasticity
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/482696
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author Birgitta Dresp-Langley
Jean Durup
author_facet Birgitta Dresp-Langley
Jean Durup
author_sort Birgitta Dresp-Langley
collection DOAJ
description Consciousness is known to be limited in processing capacity and often described in terms of a unique processing stream across a single dimension: time. In this paper, we discuss a purely temporal pattern code, functionally decoupled from spatial signals, for conscious state generation in the brain. Arguments in favour of such a code include Dehaene et al.'s long-distance reverberation postulate, Ramachandran's remapping hypothesis, evidence for a temporal coherence index and coincidence detectors, and Grossberg's Adaptive Resonance Theory. A time-bin resonance model is developed, where temporal signatures of conscious states are generated on the basis of signal reverberation across large distances in highly plastic neural circuits. The temporal signatures are delivered by neural activity patterns which, beyond a certain statistical threshold, activate, maintain, and terminate a conscious brain state like a bar code would activate, maintain, or inactivate the electronic locks of a safe. Such temporal resonance would reflect a higher level of neural processing, independent from sensorial or perceptual brain mechanisms.
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spelling doaj-art-c9800b1d6e684ddc8a0a0b1a1c6b34722025-08-20T02:19:57ZengWileyNeural Plasticity2090-59041687-54432009-01-01200910.1155/2009/482696482696A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State GenerationBirgitta Dresp-Langley0Jean Durup1Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS - UMR 5508), Université Montpellier 2, CC048 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France16 rue Romain Rolland, 34200 Sète, FranceConsciousness is known to be limited in processing capacity and often described in terms of a unique processing stream across a single dimension: time. In this paper, we discuss a purely temporal pattern code, functionally decoupled from spatial signals, for conscious state generation in the brain. Arguments in favour of such a code include Dehaene et al.'s long-distance reverberation postulate, Ramachandran's remapping hypothesis, evidence for a temporal coherence index and coincidence detectors, and Grossberg's Adaptive Resonance Theory. A time-bin resonance model is developed, where temporal signatures of conscious states are generated on the basis of signal reverberation across large distances in highly plastic neural circuits. The temporal signatures are delivered by neural activity patterns which, beyond a certain statistical threshold, activate, maintain, and terminate a conscious brain state like a bar code would activate, maintain, or inactivate the electronic locks of a safe. Such temporal resonance would reflect a higher level of neural processing, independent from sensorial or perceptual brain mechanisms.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/482696
spellingShingle Birgitta Dresp-Langley
Jean Durup
A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State Generation
Neural Plasticity
title A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State Generation
title_full A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State Generation
title_fullStr A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State Generation
title_full_unstemmed A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State Generation
title_short A Plastic Temporal Brain Code for Conscious State Generation
title_sort plastic temporal brain code for conscious state generation
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/482696
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