Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Conferences, Workshops, Symposiums, and Seminars
  4. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of early visual but not frontal cortices reveals a feature memory of substantial duration
 
conference presentation

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of early visual but not frontal cortices reveals a feature memory of substantial duration

Rüter, Johannes  
•
Scharnowski, Frank
•
Lironi, Nicole
Show more
2008
Third International Conference on Transcranial Magnetic and Direct Current Stimulation Program

Objective: How the brain achieves integration of temporally dispersed information is one of the enigmas in the neurosciences. By combining feature fusion with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we show that individual visual features are stored for several hundred milliseconds before being condensed into a conscious percept. Methods: We presented two verniers with opposite offset directions in rapid succession at the same retinotopic location. Because of the short durations (30ms each) only one fused vernier is perceived. The perceived offset of the fused vernier is a combination of the offsets of the two verniers which themselves are consciously not accessible. We then applied TMS at different times after the onset of the first vernier over the occipital or frontal cortex. Six healthy paid subjects contributed with 120 trials per condition each to the study. Results: When TMS was applied occipitally from 45ms to 95ms after the onset of the first vernier, the second vernier dominated significantly (p<.05). For later onset asynchronies 170ms up to 320ms, the first vernier dominated significantly (p<.05). Applying TMS frontally no such modulation can be found. Conclusion: Even though the individual verniers are not consciously accessible, they still can be manipulated by TMS for a period of more than 300ms. Hence, our results demonstrate long lasting feature memory and an extended integration process of unconscious feature traces in that is based on early visual cortex rather than frontal areas. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation).

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
conference presentation
Author(s)
Rüter, Johannes  
Scharnowski, Frank
Lironi, Nicole
Kammer, Thomas
Herzog, Michael H.  
Date Issued

2008

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LPSY  
Event nameEvent placeEvent date
Third International Conference on Transcranial Magnetic and Direct Current Stimulation Program

Göttingen

October 1-4, 2008

Available on Infoscience
March 29, 2010
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/48933
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés