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Free keywords:
Consciousness
contents of consciousness
levels of consciousness
oscillations
gamma-band
coherence
anesthesia
attention
perceptual selection
binding
Abstract:
Evidence accumulated in the past two decades strongly suggests that synchronization of oscillatory neural signals is one of the key mechanisms for integrating and selecting information in distributed networks. Coherence of neural signals allows highly specific patterns of effective neuronal coupling to be set up, thus enabling flexible and context-dependent binding, the selection of relevant information and the efficient routing of signals through processing pathways. In this chapter, we discuss evidence from human and animal studies suggesting that dynamic interaction through coherent oscillations is likely to be involved in several processes indispensable for consciousness, including arousal, perceptual integration, attentional selection, and working memory. We argue that modulation of dynamic oscillatory coupling may relate to both changes in levels of consciousness, as well as changes in the contents of conscious states.
