Figure 1.

Predictions of the global neuronal workspace and detailed view of the bundles of interest. Left, The global neuronal workspace theory assumes that information becomes consciously accessible when it is amplified by attention and triggers sustained activity in a large network of interconnected neurons. The long-distance connectivity of higher cortical areas, particularly prefrontal cortex, therefore plays an essential role in conscious access. Right, We conducted an imaging analysis on bundles supposedly involved in the global workspace. IFOFs (pink) and CLFs (brown) correspond to long-distance posteroanterior connections, and the corpus callosum that underlies interhemispheric communication and the formation of a single bihemispheric state of ignition. Additional bundles were included in the analysis as control subjects (occipitotemporal ILFs, purple; U-shaped short fibers, not represented in this figure) to check whether a correlation between masking threshold and cerebral connectivity was specific to fibers involved in the global neuronal workspace.