How time and semantic relatedness modulate whether and how unconscious information is represented in the brain

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event How time and semantic relatedness modulate whether and how unconscious information is represented in the brain Charlotte Muscarella1, Bart Aben1, Karolien Smets2, Gethin Hughes3 and Eva Van Den Bussche1* 1 Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Psychology, Belgium 2 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium 3 University of Essex, United Kingdom Activity of brain areas can be modulated by several behavioral manipulations. In the current study we used a typical masked priming paradigm to investigate whether time (as defined by the Stimulus Onset Asynchrony or SOA) and the degree of semantic relatedness between prime and target modulate the neural activity triggered by unconscious logos of well-known brands. This allows us to further explore the supposed short-livedness of unconscious representations and the potential of these representations to trigger a wider-spread semantic network. In a lexical decision task participants decided whether targets were words (which could also be brand names) or non-words. These targets were preceded by unconscious prime logos of highly familiar brands. During this behavioral task EEG was recorded. To assess the influence of time, a short (300ms) and long (2500ms) SOA condition was created. To assess the influence of semantic relatedness, related prime-target pairs could either be strongly semantically related (e.g., logo of McDonald’s followed by the target word MCDONALD’S) or semantically related to a lesser degree (e.g., logo of McDonald’s followed by the target word HAMBURGER) Behavioral results indicated that, even after the long SOA, unconscious brand logos facilitated categorization of strongly related targets and, albeit to a lesser extent, more weakly related targets. A modulation of the N400, a negative ERP deflection over the centro-parietal scalp thought to reflect semantic processing, was observed. This N400 modulation was moderated both by SOA and the semantic relatedness between prime and target. This implies that unconscious brand logos can be semantically processed, that this processing is not necessarily short-lived, and that it is moderated by the degree of semantic closeness between prime and target. Keywords: Consciousness, priming, N400, Semantic Processing, brands, logos, unconscious processing Conference: Belgian Brain Council 2014 MODULATING THE BRAIN: FACTS, FICTION, FUTURE, Ghent, Belgium, 4 Oct - 4 Oct, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Basic Neuroscience Citation: Muscarella C, Aben B, Smets K, Hughes G and Van Den Bussche E (2014). How time and semantic relatedness modulate whether and how unconscious information is represented in the brain. Conference Abstract: Belgian Brain Council 2014 MODULATING THE BRAIN: FACTS, FICTION, FUTURE. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2014.214.00059 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 01 Jul 2014; Published Online: 13 Jul 2014. * Correspondence: Prof. Eva Van Den Bussche, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Psychology, Brussels, 1050, Belgium, eva.vandenbussche@kuleuven.be Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Charlotte Muscarella Bart Aben Karolien Smets Gethin Hughes Eva Van Den Bussche Google Charlotte Muscarella Bart Aben Karolien Smets Gethin Hughes Eva Van Den Bussche Google Scholar Charlotte Muscarella Bart Aben Karolien Smets Gethin Hughes Eva Van Den Bussche PubMed Charlotte Muscarella Bart Aben Karolien Smets Gethin Hughes Eva Van Den Bussche Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.