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Unconscious processing of unattended features in human visual cortex.
Tatiana Aloi Emmanouil1, Philip Burton, Tony Ro
1The City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
|November 21, 2012
Summary
Even unattended visual features can be processed unconsciously. This study shows the brain unconsciously encodes and binds multiple features, similar to conscious perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Unconscious processing is established for attended features.
- The capacity for unconscious processing of unattended, task-irrelevant features remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the visual system can unconsciously encode multiple features, even when unattended.
- To examine unconscious priming effects on behavior and brain activity.
Main Methods:
- Used metacontrast masking to present visual primes unconsciously.
- Measured behavioral priming (reaction times) and fMRI activation.
- Participants attended to target shape while ignoring color.
Main Results:
- Faster reaction times and reduced fMRI activation occurred when primes matched targets.
- Evidence suggests processing of both attended shape and unattended color dimensions.
- Activation reductions observed in early visual and feature-responsive areas.
Conclusions:
- Multiple visual features can be unconsciously encoded.
- Unattended features are processed by the same visual networks as consciously perceived stimuli.
- Unconscious encoding and feature binding occur within visual processing networks.
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