Circling Science

Guiding the study of brain dynamics by using first-person data: Synchrony patterns correlate with ongoing conscious states during a simple visual task

Antoine Lutz, Jean-Philippe Lachaux, Jacques Martinerie and Francisco J. Varela · 2002

Evidence
Observational study
Kind
Journal article
peer-reviewed
Method
EEG during a visual illusion, with trials grouped by participants’ own reports of their state before each image
Published
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(3), 1586–1591

Background

Earlier work that helps you think about the practice, without being about it.

EEG trials were sorted by participants’ own accounts of how ready they felt before a visual illusion appeared; each kind of readiness came with its own pattern of brain synchrony, which also went with how they then performed.

What it doesn’t show

Participants worked alone on a simple visual task, so nothing social was studied. It shows that first-person reports can help make sense of EEG, not that the approach works in live conversation.

Summary based on the abstract.

Directions that build on it

  1. Brains in a circle

    Builds on 7 works · 4 funding routes

    Does brain activity fall into step across a circle in the moments participants feel met, beyond what shared speech and attention explain?

Links

Cite

Lutz, A., Lachaux, J.-P., Martinerie, J., & Varela, F. J. (2002). Guiding the study of brain dynamics by using first-person data: Synchrony patterns correlate with ongoing conscious states during a simple visual task. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(3), 1586–1591. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.032658199