Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 23 May 1997:
Vol. 276. no. 5316, pp. 1272 - 1275
DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5316.1272
Prev | Table of Contents

Reports

Brain Regions Responsive to Novelty in the Absence of Awareness

Gregory S. Berns, * Jonathan D. Cohen, Mark A. Mintun

Brain regions responsive to novelty, without awareness, were mapped in humans by positron emission tomography. Participants performed a simple reaction-time task in which all stimuli were equally likely but, unknown to them, followed a complex sequence. Measures of behavioral performance indicated that participants learned the sequences even though they were unaware of the existence of any order. Once the participants were trained, a subtle and unperceived change in the nature of the sequence resulted in increased blood flow in a network comprising the left premotor area, left anterior cingulate, and right ventral striatum. Blood flow decreases were observed in the right dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal areas. The time course of these changes suggests that the ventral striatum is responsive to novel information, and the right prefrontal area is associated with the maintenance of contextual information, and both processes can occur without awareness.

G. S. Berns, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
J. D. Cohen, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
M. A. Mintun, Departments of Radiology and Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Involuntary Orienting of Attention to Nociceptive Events: Neural and Behavioral Signatures.
V. Legrain, C. Perchet, and L. Garcia-Larrea (2009)
J Neurophysiol 102, 2423-2434
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamic Organization of the Emotional Brain: Responsivity, Stability, and Instability.
L. M. Williams and E. Gordon (2007)
Neuroscientist 13, 349-370
   Abstract »    PDF »
Basal Ganglia Functional Connectivity Based on a Meta-Analysis of 126 Positron Emission Tomography and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Publications.
R. B. Postuma and A. Dagher (2006)
Cereb Cortex 16, 1508-1521
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Alternative mechanisms for regulating racial responses according to internal vs external cues.
D. M. Amodio, J. T. Kubota, E. Harmon-Jones, and P. G. Devine (2006)
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 1, 26-36
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Alcohol Misuse and Mood Disorders Following Traumatic Brain Injury.
R. E. Jorge, S. E. Starkstein, S. Arndt, D. Moser, B. Crespo-Facorro, and R. G. Robinson (2005)
Arch Gen Psychiatry 62, 742-749
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Regional Brain Activation during Concurrent Implicit and Explicit Sequence Learning.
H. J. Aizenstein, V. A. Stenger, J. Cochran, K. Clark, M. Johnson, R. D. Nebes, and C. S. Carter (2004)
Cereb Cortex 14, 199-208
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neural Coding of "Attention for Action" and "Response Selection" in Primate Anterior Cingulate Cortex.
Y. Isomura, Y. Ito, T. Akazawa, A. Nambu, and M. Takada (2003)
J. Neurosci. 23, 8002-8012
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dissociating Striatal and Hippocampal Function Developmentally with a Stimulus-Response Compatibility Task.
B. J. Casey, K. M. Thomas, M. C. Davidson, K. Kunz, and P. L. Franzen (2002)
J. Neurosci. 22, 8647-8652
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Direct Comparison of Neural Systems Mediating Conscious and Unconscious Skill Learning.
D. B. Willingham, J. Salidis, and J. D.E. Gabrieli (2002)
J Neurophysiol 88, 1451-1460
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Anterior Cingulate: Single Neuronal Signals Related to Degree of Reward Expectancy.
M. Shidara and B. J. Richmond (2002)
Science 296, 1709-1711
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Anterior Prefrontal Cortex Mediates Rule Learning in Humans.
B.A. Strange, R.N.A. Henson, K.J. Friston, and R.J. Dolan (2001)
Cereb Cortex 11, 1040-1046
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Prefrontal regions involved in keeping information in and out of mind.
S. A. Bunge, K. N. Ochsner, J. E. Desmond, G. H. Glover, and J. D. E. Gabrieli (2001)
Brain 124, 2074-2086
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Wisconsin Card Sorting Revisited: Distinct Neural Circuits Participating in Different Stages of the Task Identified by Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
O. Monchi, M. Petrides, V. Petre, K. Worsley, and A. Dagher (2001)
J. Neurosci. 21, 7733-7741
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Consciousness.
A. Zeman (2001)
Brain 124, 1263-1289
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dissociable Mechanisms of Attentional Control within the Human Prefrontal Cortex.
Y. Nagahama, T. Okada, Y. Katsumi, T. Hayashi, H. Yamauchi, C. Oyanagi, J. Konishi, H. Fukuyama, and H. Shibasaki (2001)
Cereb Cortex 11, 85-92
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dissociation of response conflict, attentional selection, and expectancy with functional magnetic resonance imaging.
B. J. Casey, K. M. Thomas, T. F. Welsh, R. D. Badgaiyan, C. H. Eccard, J. R. Jennings, and E. A. Crone (2000)
PNAS 97, 8728-8733
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Parsing executive processes: Strategic vs. evaluative functions of the anterior cingulate cortex.
C. S. Carter, A. M. Macdonald, M. Botvinick, L. L. Ross, V. A. Stenger, D. Noll, and J. D. Cohen (2000)
PNAS 97, 1944-1948
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mapping the network for planning: a correlational PET activation study with the Tower of London task.
A. Dagher, A. M. Owen, H. Boecker, and D. J. Brooks (1999)
Brain 122, 1973-1987
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Procedural learning is impaired in patients with prefrontal lesions.
M. G. Beldarrain, J. Grafman, A. Pascual-Leone, and J. C. Garcia-Monco (1999)
Neurology 52, 1853
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Interactions of Prefrontal Cortex in Relation to Awareness in Sensory Learning.
A. R. McIntosh, M. N. Rajah, and N. J. Lobaugh (1999)
Science 284, 1531-1533
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Blind smell: brain activation induced by an undetected air-borne chemical.
N. Sobel, V. Prabhakaran, C. A. Hartley, J. E. Desmond, G. H. Glover, E. V. Sullivan, and J. D. E. Gabrieli (1999)
Brain 122, 209-217
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Abstract and Effector-Specific Representations of Motor Sequences Identified with PET.
S. T. Grafton, E. Hazeltine, and R. B. Ivry (1998)
J. Neurosci. 18, 9420-9428
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neural Response during Preference and Memory Judgments for Subliminally Presented Stimuli: A Functional Neuroimaging Study.
R. Elliott and R. J. Dolan (1998)
J. Neurosci. 18, 4697-4704
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Masked Presentations of Emotional Facial Expressions Modulate Amygdala Activity without Explicit Knowledge.
P. J. Whalen, S. L. Rauch, N. L. Etcoff, S. C. McInerney, M. B. Lee, and M. A. Jenike (1998)
J. Neurosci. 18, 411-418
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)