Distinct frequency channels for remembering conscious and nonconscious perceptual contents

What is it about?

Understanding how the brain generates conscious and unconscious experience is a major goal of fundamental and translational neuroscience. We demonstrate, for the first time, that the brain uses distinct frequencies for remembering contents that we consciously see versus not. Using a noninvasive neuromodulatory technique called high-definition alternating current stimulation, we improved short-term memory for conscious and nonconscious contents by increasing respective frequencies. The short-term memory improvements were long-lasting.

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Photo by DeepMind on Unsplash

Photo by DeepMind on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The findings have both fundamental and clinical significance. Fundamentally, they add a mechanistic foundation to existing theories of consciousness and call for revisions to these theories. Clinically, they contribute to the development of nonpharmacological therapeutics for improving visual cortical processing.