Consciousness is not located in the prefrontal cortexβlong considered essential for reasoning and planning and one of the most promising areas to search for itβbut may instead be the result of connections between the brain’s visual processing areas at the back and the frontal areas that transform perception into thought. This is the conclusion of a seven-year experiment involving 256 people, an unprecedented number for studies of this kind, which has shed new light on the origin of conscious thought.
The research, published in Nature, compared two leading rival theories in the field, but the results do not decisively confirm or refute either, leaving both still under consideration. The study, led by Christof Koch of the American Allen Institute, may also have implications for the diagnosis and treatment of comas and vegetative states, potentially helping to detect so-called “covert consciousness” in unresponsive patientsβa condition occurring in about one-quarter of such cases.