Cellular Mechanisms of Conscious Processing

2020/08/24 by Jaan Aru, Mototaka Suzuki, Matthew E. Larkum · 1 voice · 8 citations
Neuroscience · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Neural dynamics and brain function #Photoreceptor and optogenetics research #Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies

paper · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2020.07.006

openalex publication_date 2020/08/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

Recent breakthroughs in neurobiology indicate that the time is ripe to understand how cellular-level mechanisms are related to conscious experience. Here, we highlight the biophysical properties of pyramidal cells, which allow them to act as gates that control the evolution of global activation patterns. In conscious states, this cellular mechanism enables complex sustained dynamics within the thalamocortical system, whereas during unconscious states, such signal propagation is prohibited. We suggest that the hallmark of conscious processing is the flexible integration of bottom-up and top-down data streams at the cellular level. This cellular integration mechanism provides the foundation for Dendritic Information Theory, a novel neurobiological theory of consciousness.

Citations

• Breakdown of Cortical Effective Connectivity During Sleep
• The Problem of Consciousness
• Gorillas in Our Midst: Sustained Inattentional Blindness for Dynamic Events
• Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness: basic evidence and a workspace framework
• Consciousness as Integrated Information: a Provisional Manifesto
• Dendritic action potentials and computation in human layer 2/3 cortical neurons
• Conscious Processing and the Global Neuronal Workspace Hypothesis

Cited by

• Thalamocortical feedback selectively controls pyramidal neuron excitability
• Does brain activity cause consciousness? A thought experiment
• The neural basis of imagination: An evolutionary perspective
• The role of transthalamic pathways in perception
• Generating meaning: active inference and the scope and limits of passive AI
• The non-specific matrix thalamus facilitates the cortical information processing modes relevant for conscious awareness
• A general framework for interpretable neural learning based on local information-theoretic goal functions
• Unpacking the complexities of consciousness: Theories and reflections

Discussions

• We discuss how apical amplification (important in both DIT and AAT) can support and constrain network-level theories. Others have made similar arguments previously. For example: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti.. [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]

Related

• A thalamocortical substrate for integrated information via critical synchronous bursting
• Testing circuit-level theories of consciousness in humans
• Do psychic cells generate consciousness?
• Decoding the circuitry of consciousness: from local microcircuits to brain-scale networks
• Information Closure Theory of Consciousness