Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.

Perceptual awareness results from an intricate interaction between external sensory input and the brain's spontaneous activity. Pre-stimulus ongoing activity influencing conscious perception includes both brain oscillations in the alpha (7 to 14 Hz) and beta (14 to 30 Hz) frequency ranges and a...

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Main Authors: Lua Koenig, Biyu J He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS Biology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002964
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author Lua Koenig
Biyu J He
author_facet Lua Koenig
Biyu J He
author_sort Lua Koenig
collection DOAJ
description Perceptual awareness results from an intricate interaction between external sensory input and the brain's spontaneous activity. Pre-stimulus ongoing activity influencing conscious perception includes both brain oscillations in the alpha (7 to 14 Hz) and beta (14 to 30 Hz) frequency ranges and aperiodic activity in the slow cortical potential (SCP, <5 Hz) range. However, whether brain oscillations and SCPs independently influence conscious perception or do so through shared mechanisms remains unknown. Here, we addressed this question in 2 independent magnetoencephalography (MEG) data sets involving near-threshold visual perception tasks in humans using low-level (Gabor patches) and high-level (objects, faces, houses, animals) stimuli, respectively. We found that oscillatory power and large-scale SCP activity influence conscious perception through independent mechanisms that do not have shared variance. In addition, through mediation analysis, we show that pre-stimulus oscillatory power and SCP activity have different relations to pupil size-an index of arousal-in their influences on conscious perception. Together, these findings suggest that oscillatory power and SCPs independently contribute to perceptual awareness, with distinct relations to pupil-linked arousal.
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spelling doaj-art-fb3a1a221dcd498e9d0c311f23880a302025-02-05T05:30:18ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852025-01-01231e300296410.1371/journal.pbio.3002964Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.Lua KoenigBiyu J HePerceptual awareness results from an intricate interaction between external sensory input and the brain's spontaneous activity. Pre-stimulus ongoing activity influencing conscious perception includes both brain oscillations in the alpha (7 to 14 Hz) and beta (14 to 30 Hz) frequency ranges and aperiodic activity in the slow cortical potential (SCP, <5 Hz) range. However, whether brain oscillations and SCPs independently influence conscious perception or do so through shared mechanisms remains unknown. Here, we addressed this question in 2 independent magnetoencephalography (MEG) data sets involving near-threshold visual perception tasks in humans using low-level (Gabor patches) and high-level (objects, faces, houses, animals) stimuli, respectively. We found that oscillatory power and large-scale SCP activity influence conscious perception through independent mechanisms that do not have shared variance. In addition, through mediation analysis, we show that pre-stimulus oscillatory power and SCP activity have different relations to pupil size-an index of arousal-in their influences on conscious perception. Together, these findings suggest that oscillatory power and SCPs independently contribute to perceptual awareness, with distinct relations to pupil-linked arousal.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002964
spellingShingle Lua Koenig
Biyu J He
Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.
PLoS Biology
title Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.
title_full Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.
title_fullStr Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.
title_full_unstemmed Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.
title_short Spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception.
title_sort spontaneous slow cortical potentials and brain oscillations independently influence conscious visual perception
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002964
work_keys_str_mv AT luakoenig spontaneousslowcorticalpotentialsandbrainoscillationsindependentlyinfluenceconsciousvisualperception
AT biyujhe spontaneousslowcorticalpotentialsandbrainoscillationsindependentlyinfluenceconsciousvisualperception