Loading...

Consciousness, Learning and Control

This line aims to shed light on how the brain affords consciousness.

Central questions are:
- How does consciousness interact with attention?
- What is the role of the different attentional networks in conscious vs. unconscious processing?
- How does implicit learning relate to consciousness and control?
- How does control modulate the expression of automaticity, and implicit vs. explicit learning?
- What are the neural basis of cognitive control across different domains?

Principal Investigators

Ana B. Chica
Senior Investigator
Juan Lupiáñez
Senior Investigator
Mar Martín-Signes
Senior Investigator
Joaquín M. Vaquero
Senior Investigator
Ian C. Simpson
Senior Investigator

Representative Publications

Arciuli, J., & Simpson, I. C. (2012). Statistical learning is related to reading ability in children and adults. Cognitive science, 36(2), 286-304. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-6709.2011.01200.x

Cañadas, E., Rodríguez-Bailón, R., Milliken, B., & Lupiáñez, J. (2013). Social categories as a context for the allocation of attentional control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(3), 934–943. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029794

Chica, A. B., Bayle, D.J., Botta, F., Bartolomeo, P., and Paz-Alonso, P.M. (2016) Interactions between phasic alerting and consciousness in the frontostriatal network. Scientific Reports. 6, 31868; doi: 10.1038/srep31868.

Chica, A.B., Valero-Cabré, A., Paz-Alonso, P.M., & Bartolomeo, P. (2014).Causal contribution of left frontal eye field to spatial attention and conscious perception. Cerebral Cortex, 24(3), 745-53.

Cobos, M.I., Guerra, P.M., Vila, J. & Chica, A.B. (2018). Heart-rate modulations reveal attention and consciousness interactions. Psychophysiology, 56(3):e13295. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13295.

Colás, I., Chica, A.B., Ródenas, E., Busquier, H., Olivares-Granados, G., Triviño, M. (2019). Conscious perception in patients with prefrontal damage. Neuropsychologia. 7;129:284-293. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.03.002

Crump, M.J., Vaquero, J.M.M., Milliken, B. (2008). Context-specific learning and control: the roles of awareness, task relevance, and relative salience. Conscious Cogn. 2008 Mar;17(1):22-36.

González-García, C., Tudela, P., Ruz, M. (2015). Unconscious biases in task choices depend on conscious expectations. Consciousness & Cognition 37:44-56.

Jiménez, L., Lupiáñez, J., Vaquero, J.M.M. (2009). Sequential congruency effects in implicit sequence learning. Conscious Cogn. 2009 Sep;18(3):690-700. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2009.04.006.

Jiménez-Fernández, G., Vaquero, J. M. M., Jiménez, L., & Defior, S. (2011). Dyslexic children show deficits in implicit sequence learning, but not in explicit sequence learning or contextual cueing. Annals of dyslexia, 61(1), 85-110. doi: 10.1007/s11881-010-0048-3.

Luna, F. G., Telga, M., Vadillo, M. A., & Lupiáñez, J. (2020). Working Memory Load May Increase or Reduce Cognitive Interference Depending on the Attentional Set. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.

Martín-Signes, M., Chica, A. B., Bartolomeo, P., & Thiebaut de Schotten, M. (2024). Streams of conscious visual experience. Communications Biology, 7(1), 908.

Martín-Signes, M., Paz-Alonso, P. M., & Chica, A. B. (2019). Connectivity of Frontoparietal Regions Reveals Executive Attention and Consciousness Interactions. Cerebral Cortex, 29(11), 4539-4550. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhy332

Onochie-Quintanilla, E., Defior, S., & Simpson, I. C. (2017). Visual multi-element processing as a pre-reading predictor of decoding skill. Journal of Memory and Language, 94, 134-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2016.11.003

Palenciano, A. F., González-García, C., Arco, J. E., & Ruz, M. (2019). Transient and sustained control mechanisms supporting novel instructed behavior. Cerebral Cortex, 1-13.

Ruz, M., Madrid, E., Lupiáñez, J. & Tudela, P. (2003) High density ERP indices of conscious and unconscious semantic processing. Cognitive Brain Research,17, 719-31.

Vaquero, J. M. M., Lupiáñez, J., & Jiménez, L. (2019). Asymmetrical effects of control on the expression of implicit sequence learning. Psychological Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01222-1