The aim of the Bio-PC project is to make some progress in our understanding of the way that conscious perception is associated with lower-level biological functions.
Since the establishment of the field of the scientific study of consciousness thirty years ago, one of the significant concepts of the field was the 'neural correlate of consciousness.' The main idea was to search for neuronal mechanisms associated with conscious perception. According to the assumption, identifying such correlates would then pave the way to understanding how consciousness works. This target can be achieved, for example, by comparing brain activity during a task when a stimulus is consciously perceived and when it is not perceived.
Brains, however, are not only abstract machines, nor their function is restricted to neuronal electric activity. On the basis of these assumptions, we believe that there are more fundamental biological processes that determine our conscious perception. We want to make some progress in identifying these processes.
In particular, we are interested in two aspects - (i) genetics; and (ii) gut-brain axis. In other words, we are seeking the 'genetic correlate of conscious perception' and the 'gut bacterial correlate of conscious perception'.
In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that some of our higher-order traits are partly determined by our genetics. This fact does not mean that genetics determine our fate. On the contrary, almost everyone believes that both nature and nurture (and, more importantly, the interaction between them) shape our traits. Nevertheless, our genes do contribute to various traits we have. But do they also contribute to our conscious perception? Is one person perception of yellow similar to another person perception of yellow based on their genetics? Does one person perceptual field different from another person perceptual field based on differences in our genetics? The experiments you will conduct tries to answer these questions.
How are we going to do that? We build on individual differences. Different people perceive the world in a somewhat different ways. This fact was shown in several conscious-perception-related tasks. For example, some people have a larger visual working memory (the memory that enables you to keep information for a short time for immediate usage – similar to the RAM of a computer).
What we will try to do is to correlate these individual differences with genetic information.
The genetic information of different people is highly similar. Nevertheless, there are slight differences. In particular, different people have different Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) patterns. This fact means that a different genetic letter appears in specific locations on the DNA of different people. This unique pattern is what helps, for example, police forces identify suspects based on blood samples.
We want to correlate these SNPs patterns with the individual differences in the results of several conscious perception experiments (we call them – experimental paradigms). To obtain this goal, each volunteer for the Bio-PC project will be tested in several standard conscious perception tasks. We will assess the results of your conscious perception twice, once during a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging session and once during an EEG session. Each session takes about three hours.
In addition, we ask people to donate blood samples to the Taiwan Biobank. The Taiwan Biobank is a national institute of the Taiwanese government. It collects blood samples from Taiwanese citizens, analyzes each person's SNPs pattern, and makes this data available for researchers around Taiwan for their research (after anonymization). These researchers can study, for example, the correlation between this SNPs pattern and certain medical conditions (for example, obesity). The Taiwan Biobank will share your SNPs pattern with us but also make it available for other scientific studies. Note that your privacy, in all cases, will not be breathed. For both the Taiwan Biobank and us, an anonymization process is taken place once the donation is made. That means that no one should be able to identify you and make an association between the SNPs pattern in the sample you donated and yourself. The donation takes place in one of the Taiwan Biobamk's donation centers. A professional person will collect the blood sample using a syringe and a needle from the hand's vein (several milliliters). We will accompany you to the blood sample donation point.
The second aspect that we find interesting to study is the relationship between the gut and the brain. Recently, scientists discovered that microorganisms in our gut (mainly bacteria) influence our brain. For example, they can affect the level of stress we experience. But do they also influence our perception? As of today, most studies were conducted on animals, not humans. We want to find out if they do. For that purpose, we will ask you to donate a stool sample. We will analyze the bacterial content of your stool and correlate these with the results of your conscious perception tasks. To donate the stool sample, you will obtain a self-donation kit. In your free time, fill the kit with a regular stool sample (i.e., under regular gut activity) and send it to the National Taiwan University Hospital. The stool sample will then be analyzed by extracting the bacteria and identifying the bacterail species in the sample based on their genetic sequence. The delivery of the stool donation should be carried out at a low temperature. You can send such a cooled sample from many 7-eleven stores. Similar to the Biobank case, also here, your privacy will be maintained as a priority. We will make sure that no connection can be made between you and your stool donation.
One point to remember is that finding correlations is not enough. We want to ask if there is a causal relationship between your genetics or gut bacteria and your conscious perception. To do so, we want to use two additional techniques. Therefore, some volunteers will be invited to participate in additional two sessions. These two sessions will take place at Taipei Medical University. There, you will again be tested for your conscious perception in the same five experimental paradigms you already experienced. In the first session, a repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) will be used to influence your performance in the conscious perception tasks. rTMS is a technique that applies a low magnetic field over the brain. This magnetic field causes some brain activity changes. We will try to correlate these changes with your genetics (or gut bacteria). In the second session, we will use transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). This technique applies a low voltage electric current to the skull. The current applied to the skull influences brain activity. We will again record changing in the performance of the conscious perception tasks after using the tDCS and correlate them with the genetic data (or gut bacteria). Both rTMS and tDCS are well-established experimental techniques and have no medical risks.
To summarize, altogether, you will have to: (i) be tested two or four times for performance in five conscious perception tasks; (ii) donate a blood sample; and (iii) donate a stool sample.
We want to stress that although the testing schedule for this experiment is intense, you keep the right to withdraw from to project at any point (unless the data was already published). In any case, no penalty will be afflicted on you.