 The focus on prefrontal cortex allows for empirical tests of the higher-order theory as against other accounts (Lau &amp; Rosenthal 2011). For example, on the higher-order theory, lesions to prefrontal cortex should affect consciousness (Kozuch 2014), testing the necessity of prefrontal cortex for consciousness. Against higher-order theories, some reports claim that patients with prefrontal cortex surgically removed maintain preserved perceptual consciousness (Boly et al. 2017). This would lend support to recurrent processing theories that hold that prefrontal cortical activity is not necessary for consciousness. It is not clear, however, that the interventions succeeded in removing all of prefrontal cortex, leaving perhaps sufficient frontal areas needed to sustain consciousness (Odegaard, Knight, &amp; Lau 2017). Bilateral suppression of prefrontal activity using transcranial magnetic stimulation also seems to selectively impair visibility as evidenced by metacognitive report (Rounis et al. 2010). Furthermore, certain syndromes and experimental manipulations suggest consciousness in the absence of appropriate sensory processing as predicted by some higher-order accounts (Lau &amp; Brown forthcoming), a claim that coheres with the theory’s sufficiency claims.