EEG Decoding of Conscious versus Unconscious Representations during Binocular Rivalry.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience February 6, 2025 Lara C Krisst, Steven J Luck
Conscious visual awareness can arise rapidly, within about 160 milliseconds of seeing a stimulus, supporting theories that place the origin of awareness early in visual cortex rather than requiring later interactions with frontoparietal regions. Using electroencephalography (EEG) and multivariate pattern classification, the authors decoded which of two competing visual gratings participants consciously perceived during binocular rivalry. Decoding accuracy for the perceived orientation exceeded that for the suppressed, unconscious orientation starting at 160 milliseconds after stimulus onset, consistent with theories predicting a rapid onset of visual awareness within roughly 200 milliseconds.