The involvement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in consciousness is an ongoing focus of intense investigation. An important question is whether representations of conscious contents and experiences in the PFC are confounded by post-perceptual processes related to cognitive functions. Here, I review recent findings suggesting that neuronal representations of consciously perceived contents—in the absence of post-perceptual processes—can indeed be observed in the PFC. Slower ongoing fluctuations in the electrophysiological state of the PFC seem to control the stability and updates of these prefrontal representations of conscious awareness. In addition to conscious perception, the PFC has been shown to play a critical role in controlling the levels of consciousness as observed during anesthesia, while prefrontal lesions can result in severe loss of perceptual awareness. Together, the convergence of these processes in the PFC suggests its integrative role in consciousness and highlights the complex nature of consciousness itself.

中文翻译：

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前额皮质在意识中的作用的综合观点


前额皮质（PFC）对意识的参与是深入研究的一个持续焦点。一个重要的问题是前额皮层中意识内容和体验的表征是否被与认知功能相关的后知觉过程所混淆。在这里，我回顾了最近的研究结果，表明在没有后知觉过程的情况下，有意识感知内容的神经元表征确实可以在前额皮层中观察到。前额皮层电生理状态较慢的持续波动似乎控制着这些意识意识的前额叶表征的稳定性和更新。除了意识知觉之外，前额皮质已被证明在控制麻醉过程中观察到的意识水平方面发挥着关键作用，而前额叶病变可导致知觉意识的严重丧失。总之，前额皮质中这些过程的融合表明了它在意识中的整合作用，并强调了意识本身的复杂性。