Figure 4.
The recurrent processing theory (RPT). RPT has emerged following the study of visual perception. After sensory information incoming to the cortex (through the optic pathways, for example), feedforward sweep (green arrows) of information between visual areas (V1, V2, V4, V5, V7, and TE) occurs very rapidly for the interpretation of all the elements of the information (shape, localisation, …). It can lead to motor responses without any conscious perception of visual information. Localised recurrent processing (orange arrows) between visual areas allows fine tuning of information content, and may lead to a conscious percept. The occurrence of a reportable conscious percept would necessitate widespread recurrent processing (red arrows), not only between visual areas, but also with and within the fronto-parietal network. Inspired by Lamme.119 Drawn with BioRender. TE, temporal visual area; V1, V2, V4, V5, and V7, visual areas 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7, respectively.