A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Is auditory awareness graded or dichotomous : Electrophysiological correlates of consciousness at different depths of stimulus processing
Authors: Filimonov, Dmitri; Tanskanen, Sampo; Revonsuo, Antti; Koivisto, Mika
Publisher: Academic Press
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Consciousness and Cognition
Journal acronym: Conscious Cogn
Article number: 103720
Volume: 123
ISSN: 1053-8100
eISSN: 1090-2376
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2024.103720
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2024.103720
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/456969840
The level-of-processing (LoP) hypothesis postulates that transition from unaware to aware visual stimuli is either graded or dichotomous depending on the depth of stimulus processing. Humans can be progressively aware of the low-level features, such as colors or shapes, while the high-level features, such as semantic category, enter consciousness in an all-or none fashion. Unlike in vision, sounds always unfold in time, which might require mechanisms dissimilar from visual processing. We tested the LoP hypothesis in hearing for the first time by presenting participants with words of different categories, spoken in different pitches near the perceptual threshold. We also assessed whether different electrophysiological correlates of consciousness, the auditory awareness negativity (AAN) and late positivity (LP), were associated with LoP. Our findings indicate that LoP also applies to the auditory modality. AAN is an early correlate of awareness independent of LoP, while LP was modulated by awareness, performance accuracy and the level of processing.
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Funding information in the publication:
This research has received a grant from Signe and Ane Gyllenbergs Foundation.
