Stanford neuroscientist Bill Newsome wants to implant an electrode in his brain to better understand the link between activity in specific parts of the brain and consciousness.

If approved, he would insert an electrode in an area of the brain known as MT. The cells in this area respond selectively to a specific direction of motion, as in monkey experiments he has done.

“If I could stimulate my MT, then, presumably I would know and could say whether I really see the [actual] dots moving [as in the monkey experiments] or something else altogether,” he said. “This would be a start toward identifying the [specific aspects of consciousness that accompany] neural activation at different points in the nervous system.”