Document Detail


Rescuing stimuli from invisibility: Inducing a momentary release from visual masking with pre-target entrainment.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20035933     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
At near-threshold levels of stimulation, identical stimulus parameters can result in very different phenomenal experiences. Can we manipulate which stimuli reach consciousness? Here we show that consciousness of otherwise masked stimuli can be experimentally induced by sensory entrainment. We preceded a backward-masked stimulus with a series of rapid visual events presented at 12 Hz for 800 ms. Peaks in visual sensitivity (d') were observed when the target appeared at the time that the next entraining stimuli would have occurred. Observers' sensitivity for identical masked near-threshold stimuli increased by factors as large as 55%, but only at this precise moment in time. These data thus reveal that awareness of near-threshold stimuli can be manipulated by entrainment to rhythmic events, supporting the functional role of induced oscillations in underlying cortical excitability, and suggest a plausible mechanism of temporal attention.
Authors:
Kyle E Mathewson; Monica Fabiani; Gabriele Gratton; Diane M Beck; Alejandro Lleras
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2009-12-24
Journal Detail:
Title:  Cognition     Volume:  115     ISSN:  1873-7838     ISO Abbreviation:  Cognition     Publication Date:  2010 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-03-01     Completed Date:  2010-05-25     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0367541     Medline TA:  Cognition     Country:  Netherlands    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  186-91     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Beckman Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA. kmathew3@illinois.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Attention / physiology*
Awareness / physiology*
Consciousness / physiology*
Humans
Perceptual Masking / physiology*
Photic Stimulation
Psychomotor Performance / physiology
Reaction Time / physiology
Sensory Thresholds / physiology*
Visual Perception / physiology

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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