Sequential neural dynamics underlie unconscious integration and conscious perception of visual stimuli.
Overview
- Laboratory of Psychophysics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Psychophysics and Neural Dynamics Lab, Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
Abstract
In some forms of postdictive phenomena, later events influence the perception of earlier ones, suggesting that conscious perception may be preceded by extended periods of unconscious processing. An example is the Sequential Metacontrast (SQM) paradigm, in which vernier offsets are unconsciously integrated over several hundred milliseconds before conscious perception. Obviously, the integrated percept can only emerge after each individual element in the stream has been processed. Thus, the SQM provides a unique opportunity to dissociate unconscious from conscious stages of visual processing, as these stages are well separated in time. Using electroencephalography (EEG) recordings in human participants during the SQM, we identified two distinct stages of neural activity: an early occipital EEG activity pattern (~200 ms after the initial vernier) associated with unconscious processing, and a later centro-parietal EEG pattern (~400 to 600 ms after SQM onset) associated with the integrated percept and the behavioral report. We propose that the transition between these neural patterns marks the shift from unconscious encoding of individual visual stimuli to their integrated percept.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Code
The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.
The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.
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Data
Datasets cited
- zenodo:20729504, at Zenodo; found in “Data Availability”
Data Availability
Data Availability: The data supporting the findings of this study are available on Zenodo (https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 3 authors, 10 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 88 references.
Cite
This paper
Menétrey, M. Q., Herzog, M. H., & Pascucci, D. (2026). Sequential neural dynamics underlie unconscious integration and conscious perception of visual stimuli. PLoS biology, 24(7), e3003894. https://
BibTeX
@article{menetrey2026seq
author = {Menétrey, Maëlan Q. and Herzog, Michael H. and Pascucci, David},
title = {{Sequential neural dynamics underlie unconscious integration and conscious perception of visual stimuli}},
journal = {PLoS biology},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {24},
number = {7},
pages = {e3003894},
publisher = {PLOS},
issn = {1544-9173},
doi = {10.1371/
url = {https://
pmid = {42406848},
pmcid = {PMC13362400}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Menétrey, Maëlan Q.
AU - Herzog, Michael H.
AU - Pascucci, David
TI - Sequential neural dynamics underlie unconscious integration and conscious perception of visual stimuli
T2 - PLoS biology
J2 - PLoS Biol
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 24
IS - 7
SP - e3003894
SN - 1544-9173
PB - PLOS
DO - 10.1371/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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