Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Detecting Pre-Stimulus Source-Level Effects on Object Perception with Magnetoencephalography
Published on: July 26, 2019
From sensory processes to conscious perception
Justin S Feinstein1, Murray B Stein, Gabriel N Castillo
1Laboratory of Biological Dynamics and Theoretical Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA. jfeinstein@ucsd.edu
Abstract:
In recent years, cognitive neuroscientists have began to explore the process of how sensory information gains access to awareness. To further probe this process, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used while testing subjects with a paradigm known as the "attentional blink." In this paradigm, visually presented information sporadically fails to reach awareness. It was found that the magnitude and time course of activation within the anterior cingulate (BA 32), medial prefrontal cortex (BA 9), and frontopolar cortex (BA 10) predicted whether or not information was consciously perceived during the critical period for the attentional blink. These results are discussed in light of a neural framework for conscious processing.
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