Magnetoencephalography (MEG), Attention and Conscience

Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France32 enrolled

Overview

The tight relationship between attention and conscious perception makes them difficult to study in isolation and has led many scientists to closely link these two processes. However, while some authors argue that conscious perception cannot occurs without attention, magnetoencephalography (MEG) and fMRI studies had shown that attention and consciousness are two distinct brain processes. If endogenously triggered attention and consciousness are dissociated, it has been proposed that orienting of exogenous attention is a necessary, though not sufficient, antecedent of conscious perception. In the present study we used MEG to explore the neural correlates of exogenous attention and consciousness during visual processing.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Change in Sustained Attention Awareness Reaction Time

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 40 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Subjects aged between 18 and 40 who have signed informed consent for participation to the study and are affiliated to a social security regimen * right-handler, without auditory or visual deficit Exclusion Criteria: * history of neurological or psychiatic disease * medication * sensory disorders

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Brain activity during visuo-spatial attention tasks

Magnetoencephalography will be used to measured cerebral evoked potential and oscillatory activity, while subjects will performed a visuo-spatial attention task.

Time frame: Three years