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Theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to the prefrontal or parietal cortex does not impair metacognitive visual awareness

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posted on 2023-06-09, 14:19 authored by Daniel Bor, David SchwartzmanDavid Schwartzman, Adam BarrettAdam Barrett, Anil SethAnil Seth
Neuroimaging 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.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

PLoS ONE

ISSN

1932-6203

Publisher

Public Library of Science

Issue

2

Volume

12

Page range

1-20

Article number

e0171793

Department affiliated with

  • Informatics Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-08-01

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-08-01

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-07-31

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