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It is commonly assumed that only the conscious perception of the presence of a stimulus elicits neuronal activation to signify a \u201cneural correlate of consciousness,\u201d whereas the subjective experience of the absence of a stimulus is associated with a neuronal resting state. Here, we demonstrate that the two subjective states \u201cstimulus present\u201d and \u201cstimulus absent\u201d are represented by two specialized neuron populations in crows, corvid birds. We recorded single-neuron activity from the nidopallium caudolaterale of crows trained to report the presence or absence of images presented near the visual threshold. Because of the task design, neuronal activity tracking the conscious \u201cpresent\u201d versus \u201cabsent\u201d percept was dissociated from that involved in planning a motor response. Distinct neuron populations signaled the subjective percepts of \u201cpresent\u201d and \u201cabsent\u201d by increases in activation. The response selectivity of these two neuron populations was similar in strength and time course. This suggests a balanced code for subjective \u201cpresence\u201d versus \u201cabsence\u201d experiences, which might be beneficial when both conscious states need to be maintained active in the service of goal-directed behavior.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_02101","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,2]],"date-time":"2024-01-02T16:52:09Z","timestamp":1704214329000},"page":"508-521","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Conscious Experience of Stimulus Presence and Absence Is Actively Encoded by Neurons in the Crow Brain"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"36","author":[{"given":"Lysann","family":"Wagener","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of T\u00fcbingen"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Nieder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of 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