Multivoxel patterns for perceptual confidence are associated with false color detection

Abstract

While it has been proposed that metacognition and conscious perception are related, the mechanistic relationship between the two is unclear. To address this question, we combined decoded neurofeedback (DecNef) in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with concurrent psychophysics. Participants were rewarded for activating multivoxel patterns for color discrimination confidence while they detected color in mostly achromatic stimuli. We found that occurences of voxel patterns for high color discrimination confidence were associated with false alarms in the concurrent color detection task, suggesting a link between discrimination confidence and consciousness.