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Arousal modulates auditory attention and awareness: insights from sleep, sedation and disorders of consciousness

Chennu, Srivas, Bekinschtein, Tristan A. (2012) Arousal modulates auditory attention and awareness: insights from sleep, sedation and disorders of consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology, 3 (00065). pp. 1-9. E-ISSN 1664-1078. (doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00065) (KAR id:54646)

Abstract

The interplay between attention and consciousness is frequently tested in altered states of consciousness, including transitions between stages of sleep and sedation, and in pathological disorders of consciousness (DoC; the vegetative and minimally conscious states; VS and MCS). One of the most widely used tasks to assess cognitive processing in this context is the auditory oddball paradigm, where an infrequent change in a sequence of sounds elicits, in awake subjects, a characteristic EEG event-related potential called the mismatch negativity, followed by the classic P300 wave. The latter is further separable into the slightly earlier, anterior P3a and the later, posterior P3b, thought to be linked to task-irrelevant “bottom-up” and task-oriented “top-down” attention, respectively. We discuss here the putative dissociations between attention and awareness in DoC, sedation and sleep, bearing in mind the recently emerging evidence from healthy volunteers and patients. These findings highlight the neurophysiological and cognitive parallels (and differences) across these three distinct variations in levels of consciousness, and inform the theoretical framework for interpreting the role of attention therein.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00065
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Computing
Depositing User: Srivas Chennu
Date Deposited: 13 Apr 2016 09:37 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:22 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/54646 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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