Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 14, 2026

The Measurement and Treatment of Suppression in Amblyopia
Published on: December 14, 2012
Ventral and Dorsal Pathways Relate Differently to Visual Awareness of Body Postures under Continuous Flash
Minye Zhan1, Rainer Goebel1,2, Beatrice de Gelder1,3
1Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6229EV, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Visual perception includes ventral and dorsal stream processes. However, it is still unclear whether the former is predominantly related to conscious and the latter to nonconscious visual perception as argued in the literature. In this study upright and inverted body postures were rendered either visible or invisible under continuous flash suppression (CFS), while brain activity of human participants was measured with functional MRI (fMRI). Activity in the ventral body-sensitive areas was higher during visible conditions. In comparison, activity in the posterior part of the bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS) showed a significant interaction of stimulus orientation and visibility. Our results provide evidence that dorsal stream areas are less associated with visual awareness.
Related Concept Videos
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Self-Awareness and Its Effects
Altered States of Awareness
The ingestion of substances like stimulants or hallucinogens leads to chemical alterations in the brain...
Subconsciousness and No Awareness
An illustrative example of subconscious processing is its role in problem-solving. Often, individuals...
High-Level and Low-Level Awareness
C4 Pathway and CAM
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...

