Abstract
Subliminal priming refers to behavioral modulation by an unconscious stimulus, and can thus be regarded as a form of unconscious visual processing. Theories on recurrent processing have suggested that the neural correlate of consciousness (NCC) comprises of the non-hierarchical transfer of stimulus-related information. According to these models, the neural correlate of subliminal priming (NCSP) corresponds to the visual processing within the feedforward sweep. Research from cognitive neuroscience on these two concepts and the relationship between them is discussed here. Evidence favoring the necessity of recurrent connectivity for visual awareness is accumulating, although some questions, such as the need for global versus local recurrent processing, are not clarified yet. However, this is not to say that recurrent processing is sufficient for consciousness, as a neural definition of consciousness in terms of recurrent connectivity would imply. We argue that the limited interest cognitive neuroscience currently has for the NCSP is undeserved, because the discovery of the NCSP can give insight into why people do (and do not) express certain behavior.
Highlights
During the 2000 U.S Presidential elections, the Republican Party was accused of hiding a message in one of their television commercials
In reality, priming is greatly used in the search for an neural correlate of consciousness (NCC), but relatively little systematic research has been done on the neural correlate of subliminal priming (NCSP)
All theories on NCC and NCSP that apply the principle of recurrent processing assume that the backprojection of information is the mechanism responsible for the constitution of awareness
Summary
During the 2000 U.S Presidential elections, the Republican Party was accused of hiding a message in one of their television commercials. The presentation of the word was said to be so brief, that it could not be perceived consciously by viewers Given that this commercial was broadcast on national television, rather than in a controlled laboratory environment, there are no data available on the extent to which people were oblivious to the hidden message. The concept of subliminal perception is fascinating, because it reflects the fact that our brains can “know” more than we consciously experience This begs to question how our decisions are influenced by these unconscious (neural) processes. In reality, priming is greatly used in the search for an NCC, but relatively little systematic research has been done on the NCSP This is unfortunate, because studying the NCSP in this way can lead to important insights as to what neural activity underlies the behavioral influence that environmental stimuli can have. We will argue that subliminal priming, rather than just being a tool to investigating the NCC deserves to be researched in its own right, because it might be even more fascinating to know what makes humans behave to know what makes them conscious
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