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NEUROSCIENCE

Hot or not

Nature Human Behaviour volume 4, pages 991–992 (2020)Cite this article

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Electrical stimulation of the human cortex, undertaken for brain surgery, triggers percepts and feelings. A new study documents an ordering principle to these effects: the farther removed from sensory input or motor output structures, the less likely it is that a region contributes to consciousness.

When Wile E. Coyote, in hot pursuit of Bugs Bunny, invariably ends up being squashed under boulders, anvils and other impossible heavy objects, flashes, stars and birds circle his head. These are an artistic interpretation of ‘phosphenes’, brief visual percepts that arise due to mechanical, electrical or magnetic stimulation of the eye or visual cortex. These conscious experiences reflect the visual system interpreting activity in its neurons.

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Fig. 1: Not all cortical regions contribute equally to consciousness .

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  1. MindScope Program, Allen Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Christof Koch

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  1. Christof Koch
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Correspondence to Christof Koch.

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Koch, C. Hot or not. Nat Hum Behav 4, 991–992 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0925-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0925-7

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