Justification not yet generated — showing supporting facts

• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) requires that decoder performance in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) after prefrontal cortex (PFC) manipulation is lower in mice and different in non-human primates (NHPs) to be considered a successful test result.
• To test the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) prediction that conscious processing is represented by an ignition signal in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) just after stimulus onset, the protocol assesses whether average decoding performance generalization is above chance level in the stimulus onset window, defined as 250–500 ms after stimulus onset for non-human primates (NHPs) and 150–400 ms after stimulus onset for mice.
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) predicts increased connectivity from pre-stimulus to stimulus onset between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and between the PFC/PPC and sensory regions.
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) predicts increased functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex (PFC), posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and sensory regions during ignition post-stimulus onset and offset.
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) predicts that conscious content is encoded in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) during the stimulus onset time window.
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) predicts that decoding performance in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) will be affected by prefrontal cortex (PFC) manipulation, with performance expected to be lower for mice and either higher or lower for non-human primates (NHPs), based on the inhibitory effect of the PFC manipulation.
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) predicts that decoding generalizes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) during ignition and continues as long as the stimulus is consciously perceived.
• The neural predictions tested in this study are not unique to Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) or Integrated Information Theory (IIT), as higher-order theories implicate the prefrontal cortex, while re-entry theories emphasize the role of the posterior parietal cortex and sensory regions.
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) predicts that decoding from the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) should be modified by prefrontal cortex (PFC) manipulation due to interference with ignition, while decoding from sensory areas should be preserved in the early time-window before ignition.
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) predicts that conscious stimuli are decodable from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC).
• To test the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) prediction that an ignition signal occurs after stimulus offset, the researchers will assess whether the spike rate in the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) and Posterior Parietal Cortex (PPC) during the stimulus offset window (250–500 ms after stimulus offset for non-human primates, and 150–400 ms after stimulus offset for mice) is greater than the baseline spike rate (0–250 ms before stimulus onset) using t-tests and Bayesian t-tests.
• For the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) to pass the test, decoding generalization must be greater than chance in the stimulus onset window in both the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) and the Posterior Parietal Cortex (PPC).
• Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) maintains only a weak theoretical commitment to the requirement that spike rates be greater than baseline in the stimulus offset window in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC), because animals may not be consciously aware of the stimulus toward the end of the presentation window.
• A successful validation of Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) in this study requires evidence that decoder performance is above chance in both the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC).
• The Cogitate study results regarding Question 3 found no evidence for sustained short-range synchrony in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and sensory regions, but found partial evidence for long-range dynamic functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and sensory areas, which supports Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT).
• The Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) requires that pairwise phase consistency increases to be greater than baseline during the stimulus onset window in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) pair, the PFC and sensory regions pair, and the PPC and sensory regions pair to pass its testing protocol.
• The researchers plan to test Question 1 causally by directly manipulating activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and assessing whether activity and stimulus decodability is modulated in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and sensory regions (a prediction of Global Neuronal Workspace Theory) or persists without being obliterated in the PPC and/or sensory regions (a prediction of Integrated Information Theory).