Abstract
Continuous flash suppression (CFS) is a psychophysical technique where a rapidly changing Mondrian pattern viewed by one eye suppresses the target in the other eye for several seconds. Despite the widespread use of CFS to study unconscious visual processes, the temporal tuning of CFS suppression is currently unknown. In the present study we used spatiotemporally filtered dynamic noise as masking stimuli to probe the temporal characteristics of CFS. Surprisingly, we find that suppression in CFS peaks very prominently at approximately 1 Hz, well below the rates typically used in CFS studies (10 Hz or more). As well as a strong bias to low temporal frequencies, CFS suppression is greater for high spatial frequencies and increases with increasing masker contrast, indicating involvement of parvocellular/ventral mechanisms in the suppression process. These results are reminiscent of binocular rivalry, and unifies two phenomenon previously thought to require different explanations.
Highlights
Continuous flash suppression (CFS) is a psychophysical technique where a rapidly changing Mondrian pattern viewed by one eye suppresses the target in the other eye for several seconds
A better understanding of the mechanisms of continuous flash suppression (CFS) suppression is needed to clarify the role of interocular suppression and possible links between CFS and binocular rivalry
We examined the effect of temporal frequency in narrowband maskers (1 octave full-width at half-height; see Fig. 2b) on CFS suppression duration
Summary
Continuous flash suppression (CFS) is a psychophysical technique where a rapidly changing Mondrian pattern viewed by one eye suppresses the target in the other eye for several seconds. The mechanisms underlying CFS are not well understood and it is not clear why the dynamic Mondrian pattern provides such strong masking This has not stopped many CFS studies from publishing bold claims about what kinds of information are processed in the absence of conscious awareness, including: preferential access to awareness for alphabets from native languages, upright, fearful and familiar facial stimuli, and reduced aftereffects specific to early stimulus properties[4,8,9,10,11]. Consistent with these observations, we find that masker suppression–when tested with narrowband temporal modulations–peaks very prominently at approximately 1 Hz, well below the 10–15 Hz refresh rates typically used in CFS studies[20,21,22]
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