Trends in cognitive sciences
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Trends Cogn. Sci. (Regul. Ed.) · Dec 2005
The neural correlate of (un)awareness: lessons from the vegetative state.
Consciousness has two main components: wakefulness and awareness. The vegetative state is characterized by wakefulness without awareness. ⋯ External stimulation, such as a painful stimulus, still activates 'primary' sensory cortices in these patients but these areas are functionally disconnected from 'higher order' associative areas needed for awareness. Such studies are disentangling the neural correlates of the vegetative state from the minimally conscious state, and have major clinical consequences in addition to empirical importance for the understanding of consciousness.
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Trends Cogn. Sci. (Regul. Ed.) · Dec 2005
How brains beware: neural mechanisms of emotional attention.
Emotional processes not only serve to record the value of sensory events, but also to elicit adaptive responses and modify perception. Recent research using functional brain imaging in human subjects has begun to reveal neural substrates by which sensory processing and attention can be modulated by the affective significance of stimuli. ⋯ These modulatory effects implement specialized mechanisms of 'emotional attention' that might supplement but also compete with other sources of top-down control on perception. This work should help to elucidate the neural processes and temporal dynamics governing the integration of cognitive and affective influences in attention and behaviour.