Continuous Flash Suppression Modulates Cortical Activity in Early Visual Cortex

Yuval-Greenberg, Shlomit; Heeger, David J.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4612-12.2013

Cited by 113 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Along another dimension, the available paradigms may be placed within a functional hierarchy of unconscious processing, according to the extent to which features of visual stimuli are processed on an unconscious level and still induce effects on behaviour, e.g., in priming experiments (Breitmeyer, 2015). The results of our reanalysis can be framed into an emerging series of results that indicate that unconscious processing associated with CFS is not as high-level as previously thought (Hedger, Adams, & Garner, 2015;Hesselmann, Darcy, Sterzer, & Knops, 2015;Hesselmann & Knops, 2014;Moors, Boelens, et al, 2016) and that neural activity related to stimuli suppressed by CFS is considerably reduced already in early visual areas (Fogelson, Kohler, Miller, Granger, & Tse, 2014;Yuval-Greenberg & Heeger, 2013). Importantly, building such a functional hierarchy should eventually allow to formulate predictions on the level of unconscious processing that can be expected in a specific experimental setup.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

A critical reexamination of doing arithmetic nonconsciously

Moors

Hesselmann

2017

Psychon Bull Rev

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A recent study claimed to have obtained evidence that participants can solve invisible multistep arithmetic equations (Sklar et al., 2012). The authors used a priming paradigm in which reaction times to targets congruent with the equation's solution were responded to faster compared with incongruent ones. We critically reanalyzed the data set of Sklar et al. and show that the claims being made in the article are not fully supported by the alternative analyses that we applied. A Bayesian reanalysis of the data accounting for the random variability of the target stimuli in addition to the subjects shows that the evidence for priming effects is less strong than initially claimed. That is, although Bayes factors revealed evidence for the presence of a priming effect, it was generally weak. Second, the claim that unconscious arithmetic occurs for subtraction but not for addition is not supported when the critical interaction is tested. Third, the data do not show well-established features of numerosity priming as derived from V-shaped response time curves for prime-target distances. Fourth, we show that it is impossible to classify reaction times as resulting from congruent or incongruent primetarget relationships, which should be expected if their results imply that participants genuinely solve the equations on each trial. We conclude that the claims being made in the original article are not fully supported by the analyses that we apply. Together with a recent failure to replicate the original results and a critique of the analysis based on regression to the mean, we argue that the current evidence for unconscious arithmetic is inconclusive. We argue that strong claims require strong evidence and stress that cumulative research strategies are needed to provide such evidence.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

A critical reexamination of doing arithmetic nonconsciously

Moors

Hesselmann

2017

Psychon Bull Rev

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“…This suggests that the primary sensitivity to protofaces, possibly supported by the subcortical face detection pathway Mondloch et al, 1999;, is intact in individuals with ASD. As the pattern of neural activity under CFS resembles brain function in newborns, with visual cortex activity being significantly suppressed during CFS (Hesselmann et al, 2011;Yuval-Greenberg & Heeger, 2013) while subcortical regions continue to respond to facial stimuli despite CFS (Jiang & He, 2006;Troiani & Schultz, 2013), this result could suggest that sensitivity to protofacial stimuli is intact in individuals with ASD from their early infancy, although the present study did not test infants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…rendered invisible) for several seconds, enabling researchers to study the processes that precede and lead to stimulus awareness for complex stimuli such as faces (Axelrod, Bar, & Rees, 2015) over extended periods of time. During CFS, visual cortex responses to the target are strongly suppressed (Hesselmann, Hebart, & Malach, 2011;Yuval-Greenberg & Heeger, 2013), while subcortical regions exhibit comparably robust responses to facial stimuli (Jiang & He, 2006;Troiani & Schultz, 2013). This pattern of activation bears a striking similarity to the structure of the newborn brain, in which subcortical regions are already well developed but cortical regions are anatomically (Barkovich, Kjos, Jackson, & Norman, 1988;Paus et al, 2001) and functionally immature (Muir, Clifton, & Clarkson, 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Preferential awareness of protofacial stimuli in autism

et al. 2015

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“…Data from Yuval-Greenberg and Heeger (2013): Disc-shaped moving target gratings were rendered invisible by non-overlapping CFS masks. Plotted are average BOLD responses (% change) from four subjects.…”

Section: Processing Of Suppressed Visual Stimuli In Early Visual Cortexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural processing of visual information under interocular suppression: a critical review

et al. 2014

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When dissimilar stimuli are presented to the two eyes, only one stimulus dominates at a time while the other stimulus is invisible due to interocular suppression. When both stimuli are equally potent in competing for awareness, perception alternates spontaneously between the two stimuli, a phenomenon called binocular rivalry. However, when one stimulus is much stronger, e.g., due to higher contrast, the weaker stimulus can be suppressed for prolonged periods of time. A technique that has recently become very popular for the investigation of unconscious visual processing is continuous flash suppression (CFS): High-contrast dynamic patterns shown to one eye can render a low-contrast stimulus shown to the other eye invisible for up to minutes. Studies using CFS have produced new insights but also controversies regarding the types of visual information that can be processed unconsciously as well as the neural sites and the relevance of such unconscious processing. Here, we review the current state of knowledge in regard to neural processing of interocularly suppressed information. Focusing on recent neuroimaging findings, we discuss whether and to what degree such suppressed visual information is processed at early and more advanced levels of the visual processing hierarchy. We review controversial findings related to the influence of attention on early visual processing under interocular suppression, the putative differential roles of dorsal and ventral areas in unconscious object processing, and evidence suggesting privileged unconscious processing of emotional and other socially relevant information. On a more general note, we discuss methodological and conceptual issues, from practical issues of how unawareness of a stimulus is assessed to the overarching question of what constitutes an adequate operational definition of unawareness. Finally, we propose approaches for future research to resolve current controversies in this exciting research area.

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Continuous Flash Suppression Modulates Cortical Activity in Early Visual Cortex

Cited by 113 publications

References 62 publications

A critical reexamination of doing arithmetic nonconsciously

A critical reexamination of doing arithmetic nonconsciously

Preferential awareness of protofacial stimuli in autism

Neural processing of visual information under interocular suppression: a critical review

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