Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States; University Grenoble Alpes, Inserm U1216, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble Institut Neurosciences, Grenoble, France
Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland; University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LPNC, Grenoble, France
Fosco Bernasconi
Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland
Nicholas Brandmeir
Departments of Neurosurgery, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
Jacob E Suffridge
Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States; Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, United States
Kaylee Tran
Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States; Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, United States; Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, United States
Victor Finomore
Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
Peter Konrad
Departments of Neurosurgery, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
Ali Rezai
Department of Neurosciences, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States; Departments of Neurosurgery, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, Morgantown, United States
Olaf Blanke
Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute & Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Subcortical brain structures such as the subthalamic nucleus or the thalamus are involved in regulating motor and cognitive behavior. However, their contribution to perceptual consciousness remains unclear, due to the inherent difficulties of recording subcortical neuronal activity in humans. Here, we asked neurological patients undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation to detect weak vibrotactile stimuli applied on their hand while recording single neuron activity from the tip of a microelectrode. We isolated putative single neurons in the subthalamic nucleus and thalamus. A significant proportion of neurons modulated their activity while participants were expecting a stimulus. We found that the firing rate of 23% of these neurons differed between detected and undetected stimuli. Our results provide direct neurophysiological evidence of the involvement of the subthalamic nucleus and the thalamus for the detection of vibrotactile stimuli, thereby calling for a less cortico-centric view of the neural correlates of consciousness.
