title: From affective blindsight to emotional consciousness.
abstract: Following destruction or denervation of the primary visual cortex (V1) cortical blindness ensues. Affective blindsight refers to the uncanny ability of such patients to respond correctly, or above chance level, to visual emotional expressions presented to their blind fields. Fifteen years after its original discovery, affective blindsight still fascinates neuroscientists and philosophers alike, as it offers a unique window on the vestigial properties of our visual system that, though present in the intact brain, tend to be unnoticed or even actively inhibited by conscious processes. Here we review available studies on affective blindsight with the intent to clarify its functional properties, neural bases and theoretical implications. Evidence converges on the role of subcortical structures of old evolutionary origin such as the superior colliculus, the pulvinar and the amygdala in mediating affective blindsight and nonconscious perception of emotions. We conclude that approaching consciousness, and its absence, from the vantage point of emotion processing may uncover important relations between the two phenomena, as consciousness may have evolved as an evolutionary specialization to interact with others and become aware of their social and emotional expressions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Italy; Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, CoRPS - Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Tilburg University, The Netherlands; GCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Celeghin
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Gelder
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Italy; Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, CoRPS - Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Tilburg University, The Netherlands; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. Electronic address: marco.tamietto@unito.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamietto
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019575:Blindness, Cortical / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D020649:Pulvinar / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012938:Social Perception; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Amygdala; Awareness; Cortical blindness; Emotion; Pulvinar; Superior colliculus; V1