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Sex dependency of subconscious visual perception
Zakia Z Haque1, Daniel J Fehring1, Ranshikha Samandra1
1Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia.
Biology of Sex Differences
|October 7, 2025
Summary
Males show a greater sensitivity to subliminal visual information, impacting their cognitive decisions more than females. This study investigated sex differences in subconscious perception and its influence on visual information processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Males exhibit higher susceptibility to neurodevelopmental cognitive deficits affecting visual information perception.
- Subliminal visual stimuli can be subconsciously perceived, influencing subsequent decisions, but sex-based differences in this process remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate sex differences in the subconscious perception of visual information.
- To determine if subliminal cues differentially affect cognitive task performance in males and females.
- To explore the influence of auditory stimuli and autonomic nervous system activity on visual information processing.
Main Methods:
- A two-choice target detection task was employed with young adult participants.
- Experimental conditions included Baseline, Cued-conscious, Subliminal-same, and Subliminal-opposite cueing.
- Event-related electrodermal activity was measured to assess autonomic nervous system responses.
Main Results:
- Conscious cues significantly improved performance compared to baseline and subliminal conditions.
- Subliminal cues influenced decisions in both sexes, but effects were significantly larger in males.
- Auditory stimuli modulated both conscious and subconscious visual processing; autonomic responses varied with cue type.
Conclusions:
- Males demonstrate heightened sensitivity to subliminal visual information compared to females.
- Subliminal visual information exerts a sex-dependent influence on cognitive functions.
- Autonomic nervous system activity is differentially modulated by supraliminal and subliminal visual cues.
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