Waves of consciousness: ongoing cortical patterns during binocular rivalry.
We present here ongoing patterns of distributed brain synchronous activity that correlate with the spontaneous flow of perceptual dominance during binocular rivalry. Specific modulation of the magnetoencephalographic (MEG) response evoked during conscious perception of a frequency-tagged stimulus was evidenced throughout rivalry. Estimation of the underlying cortical sources revealed, in addition to strong bilateral striate and extrastriate visual cortex activation, parietal, temporal pole and frontal contributions. Cortical activity was significantly modulated concomitantly to perceptual alternations in visual cortex, medial parietal and left frontal regions. Upon dominance, coactivation of occipital and frontal regions, including anterior cingulate and medial frontal areas, was established. This distributed cortical network, as measured by phase synchrony in the frequency tag band, was dynamically modulated in concert with the perceptual dominance of the tagged stimulus. While the anteroposterior pattern was recurrent through subjects, individual variations in the extension of the network were apparent.
Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging Laboratory, CNRS UPR 640, Hôpital de La Salpêtrièrie, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France. diego.cosmelli@chups.jussieu.fr
Diego
D
Cosmelli
Olivier
O
David
Jean-Philippe
JP
Lachaux
Jacques
J
Martinerie
Line
L
Garnero
Bernard
B
Renault
Francisco
F
Varela
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015357:Vision Disparity / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology