Subliminal stimuli modulate somatosensory perception rhythmically and provide evidence for discrete perception.

ABSTRACT: Despite being experienced as continuous, there is an ongoing debate if perception is an intrinsically discrete process, with incoming sensory information treated as a succession of single perceptual cycles. Here, we provide causal evidence that somatosensory perception is composed of discrete perceptual cycles. We used in humans an electrotactile temporal discrimination task preceded by a subliminal (i.e., below perceptual threshold) stimulus. Although not consciously perceived, subliminal stimuli are known to elicit neuronal activity in early sensory areas and modulate the phase of ongoing neuronal oscillations. We hypothesized that the subliminal stimulus indirectly, but systematically modulates the ongoing oscillatory phase in S1, thereby rhythmically shaping perception. The present res

SUBMITTER: Baumgarten TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5343432 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature