Temporal binding and the neural correlates of sensory awareness

Theories of binding have recently come into the focus of the consciousness debate. In this review, we discuss the potential relevance of temporal bind ing mechanisms for sensory awareness. Specifically, we suggest that neural synchrony with a precision in the millisecond range may be crucial for cons cious processing, and may be involved in arousal, perceptual integration, a ttentional selection and working memory. Recent evidence from both animal a nd human studies demonstrates that specific changes in neuronal synchrony o ccur during all of these processes and that they are distinguished by the e mergence of fast oscillations with frequencies in the gamma-range.