2010 Volume 37 Issue 2 Pages 113-121
The current special issue consists of three review articles, along with an introductory review. The three review articles examine the issues of non-consciousness in human perceptual-motor control and behavior in different disciplinary areas, such as perceptual-motor control, emotional neuroscience, and socio-psychology. The introductory review article first examines previous fundamental literature on non-consciousness in three different areas specific to perceptual-motor control, emotional autonomic responses and behavior, and cognitive and socio-psychological behavior. Following this, several issues essential to a discussion on non-consciousness in human perceptual-motor control and behavior are examined. One issue concerns temporal characteristics indicating that cortical activity lasting around 0.5 s is necessary to produce perceptual consciousness of a given stimulus. Another issue concerns spatial characteristics indicating that motor responses are unaffected when responding to a visual illusion. Finally, MacLean's (1994) view of the brain -that is, the notion of a hierarchy of three brains in one- and the Koch-Greenfield controversy (2009) concerning the issue of how consciousness is produced are briefly examined in line with the notion of consciousness and non-consciousness in the brain.