The project initially focused on investigating the properties that characterize neural responses with and without visual awareness using computational neuroimaging and task-free paradigms. We defined and validated stimulus parameters best suited to drive maximal activity in the affected portions of the visual field. Key findings include the identification of cross-species emotional signals and their relationship to consciousness, which led to significant empirical and theoretical advancements published in prestigious international journals. We discovered that low spatial frequency sensitivity in response to emotional stimuli is preserved in patients with brain injuries. We developed a visual stimulation protocol to derive population receptive field (pRF) estimates, applicable to both human participants and non-human primates (NHPs), whether healthy or with visual cortex damage. We turned our attention to assessing brain responses at rest through longitudinal tests, examining synchrony of activity across brain areas, long-range anatomical connections, and neurochemical changes using SPECT. To investigate temporal-dependent functional changes, we adopted a novel dynamic functional connectivity method for resting-state data, which was successfully applied to healthy participants and patients. This revealed significant changes in GABA and Glutamate concentrations in spared associative visual areas, correlating with behavioural performance in detecting stimuli in the blind field. We conducted the first meta-analytic activation likelihood estimation of fMRI-responsive areas in patients with V1 damage and blindsight, identifying regions with preserved responses and the potential to compensate for V1 damage. Both group and individual analyses uncovered previously undescribed cortical thickness changes in the peri-calcarine cortex, indicative of structural plasticity.A new approach to analysing resting-state fMRI data in humans and NHPs focused on studying cortical gradients and decomposing redundant and synergistic interactions between brain areas. This method revealed that V1-damaged participants with non-conscious visual functions maintain preserved cortical organisation along the unimodal-transmodal axis, while those without blindsight exhibit disrupted organisation.We developed a behavioural training protocol for visual field rehabilitation in patients with V1 damage, which was accepted as a registered report in Brain Communications. Our non-invasive brain stimulation protocol using ccPAS was applied for the first time to volunteers undergoing visual masking of emotional faces. Interdisciplinary progress was underscored by several review papers in leading journals, contributing to the theoretical understanding of consciousness and its neural correlates, and paving the way for future advancements in neuroscience, ethology, psychology, and philosophy. All major project objectives have been successfully achieved. We have laid a strong foundation for future research and clinical applications, particularly in rehabilitating patients with cortical blindness through the combined use of non-invasive brain stimulation and visual training. The project’s outcomes are set to have both significant scientific impact and practical clinical applications, maintaining a robust parallel between human and NHP research, and bridging fundamental and applied studies in visual awareness and consciousness.
