On April 15, 2024, Dr. Claire Sergent, CNRS, University of Paris,

will give a lecture in our forum:

Investigating the neural mechanisms of conscious processing in humans

Time: April 15, 2024,  15.00 – 16.30

Venue: Domus Bibliotheca, University of Oslo, Karl Johans gate 47

Abstract: When we contrast how the brain processes the same external stimulation according to whether we report it as perceived or not, we observe a whole series of neural events that correlate with this conscious report. One of the challenges we are now facing in consciousness research is to identify, among these correlates, what corresponds to core mechanisms of conscious access, and distinguish them from upstream events, such as early sensory processing, and from downstream events, such as explicit decision-making and other task-related processes. Here I will present the results of two experimental approaches that we are currently developing in my team to perform this dissection, and I will discuss their potential for identifying neural signatures of conscious access even in the absence of explicit report from the individual. These new developments call for an extension of current models such as the global workspace model, to explain conscious experience beyond task-related processes. They might also open possibilities for a better evaluation of consciousness in non-communicating patients.

Dr. Claire Sergent is an outstanding consciousness researcher with more than 20 years of experience from the forefront of consciousness research. She worked on the early development of the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory of consciousness research (GNWT), together with the pioneers Jean-Pierre Changeux, Stanislas Dehaene and Lionel Naccache. With her group in Paris, she recently published a study that significantly changed the implications of the GNW theory  (“Bifurcation in brain dynamics reveals a signature of conscious processing independent of report” Nature Communications, 2021)

Recent articles by Claire Sergent

Derrien D, Garric C, Sergent C, Chokron S. The nature of blindsight: implications for current theories of consciousness. Neurosci Conscious, 2022, 2022 (1), pp.niab043.

Sergent C, Corazzol M, Labouret G, Stockart F, Wexler M, King JR, Meyniel F, Pressnitzer D. Bifurcation in brain dynamics reveals a signature of conscious processing independent of report. Nat Commun, 2021, 12 (1), pp.1149.

Garric C, Sebaa A, Caetta F, Perez C, Savatovsky J, Sergent C, Chokron S. Dissociation between objective and subjective perceptual experiences in a population of hemianopic patients: A new form of blindsight?. Cortex, 2019, 117, pp.299-310.

Jacquet PO, Wyart V, Desantis A, Hsu YF, Granjon L, Sergent C, Waszak F. Human susceptibility to social influence and its neural correlates are related to perceived vulnerability to extrinsic morbidity risks. Sci Rep, 2018, 8 (1), pp.13347.

Sergent C, Faugeras, Rohaut, Perrin, Valente, Tallon-Braudry, Cohen, Naccache L. Multidimensional cognitive evaluation of patients with disorders of consciousness using EEG: a proof of concept study. Neuroimage, 2016. (PDF)

Some earlier articles by Claire Sergent

Sergent C, Dehaene S. Neural processes underlying conscious perception: experimental findings and a global neuronal workspace framework. J Physiol Paris, 2005, 98 (4-6), pp.374-84.

Sergent C, Dehaene S. Is consciousness a gradual phenomenon? Evidence for an all-or-none bifurcation during the attentional blink. Psychol Sci, 2004, 15 (11), pp.720-8.

Dehaene S, Sergent C, Changeux JP. A neuronal network model linking subjective reports and objective physiological data during conscious perception. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2003, 100 (14), pp.8520-5.

Dr Sergent Bifurcation in brain dynamics reveals a signature of conscious processing independent of report

Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center – CNRS UMR 8002
CNRS, Université de Paris
45 Rue des Saints Pères
75270 Paris Cedex 06
France