CANADIAN researchers have witnessed the emergence of a conscious thought.
Using imaging scanners to measure brain activity, they recorded the moment when
volunteers became conscious of images appearing in front of them—and found
that it all depends on how many neurons are firing in the brain.
Ravi Menon and his colleagues at the University of Western Ontario showed
people patterns of black and white stripes. While keeping the width of the
stripes the same, they increased the contrast slightly with each image they
showed. The volunteers were asked to press a button as soon as they could see a…
