Neural Correlates of Cognitive Variables
In addition to neural correlate of consciousness in general, much progress has been made in elucidating neural correlates of specific cognitive variables. Thus, Earl Miller and colleagues discovered prefrontal cortex neurons that represent perceptual categories (cats versus dogs in their experiments). The work of Richard Andersen, Steven Wise, Carl Olson, Jun Tanji, Apostolos Georgopoulos and other neuroscientists has illuminated neuronal correlates of motor planning, selective visual attention, motor sequences and spatial reference frames in which these entities are represented by brain cells. The progress in understanding neuronal correlates of motor planning has led to creation of brain-machine interfaces, the devices that translate neuronal activity into purposeful commands to artificial actuators.
A large number of studies have addressed the problem of neural correlates of mental representations in human subjects. For example, functional neuroimaging have shown that parts of the cortex are still active in vegetative patients that are presumed to be unconscious (Laureys, Trends Cogn Sci, 2005, 9:556-559). However, these areas appear to be functionally disconnected from associative cortical areas whose activity is needed for awareness.
Read more about this topic: Neural Correlate
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