journal.pone.0171793.pdf (1.31 MB)
Theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to the prefrontal or parietal cortex does not impair metacognitive visual awareness
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 14:19 authored by Daniel Bor, David SchwartzmanDavid Schwartzman, Adam BarrettAdam Barrett, Anil SethAnil SethNeuroimaging studies commonly associate dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and pos- terior parietal cortex with conscious perception. However, such studies only investigate cor- relation, rather than causation. In addition, many studies conflate objective performance with subjective awareness. In an influential recent paper, Rounis and colleagues addressed these issues by showing that continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) applied to the DLPFC impaired metacognitive (subjective) awareness for a percep- tual task, while objective performance was kept constant. We attempted to replicate this finding, with minor modifications, including an active cTBS control site. Using a between- subjects design for both DLPFC and posterior parietal cortices, we found no evidence of a cTBS-induced metacognitive impairment. In a second experiment, we devised a highly rig- orous within-subjects cTBS design for DLPFC, but again failed to find any evidence of meta- cognitive impairment. One crucial difference between our results and the Rounis study is our strict exclusion of data deemed unsuitable for a signal detection theory analysis. Indeed, when we included this unstable data, a significant, though invalid, metacognitive impairment was found. These results cast doubt on previous findings relating metacognitive awareness to DLPFC, and inform the current debate concerning whether or not prefrontal regions are preferentially implicated in conscious perception.
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Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
PLoS ONEISSN
1932-6203Publisher
Public Library of ScienceExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
12Page range
1-20Article number
e0171793Department affiliated with
- Informatics Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2018-08-01First Open Access (FOA) Date
2018-08-01First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2018-07-31Usage metrics
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