Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the human frontal eye field facilitates visual awareness. 2003

Marie-Hélène Grosbras, and Tomás Paus
Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, 3801 University, Montréal, QC, Canada H3A2B4. marieg@bic.mni.mcgill.ca

What are the brain mechanisms allowing a stimulus to enter our awareness? Some theories suggest that this process engages resources overlapping with those required for action control, but experimental support for these ideas is still required. Here, we investigated whether the human frontal eye field (FEF), an area known to control eye movements, is involved in visual awareness. Volunteers participated in a backward masking task in which they were able to detect a target in a small proportion of trials. We observed that a single pulse of transcranial magnetic stimulation applied over the FEF shortly before the target's onset facilitated visual sensitivity; subjects were able to detect an otherwise subliminal object. These results show that modulating the neuronal activity of the FEF can enhance visual detection, thereby yielding new insights into the neural basis of visual awareness.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008279 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques. Chemical Shift Imaging,MR Tomography,MRI Scans,MRI, Functional,Magnetic Resonance Image,Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional,Magnetization Transfer Contrast Imaging,NMR Imaging,NMR Tomography,Tomography, NMR,Tomography, Proton Spin,fMRI,Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,Imaging, Chemical Shift,Proton Spin Tomography,Spin Echo Imaging,Steady-State Free Precession MRI,Tomography, MR,Zeugmatography,Chemical Shift Imagings,Echo Imaging, Spin,Echo Imagings, Spin,Functional MRI,Functional MRIs,Image, Magnetic Resonance,Imaging, Magnetic Resonance,Imaging, NMR,Imaging, Spin Echo,Imagings, Chemical Shift,Imagings, Spin Echo,MRI Scan,MRIs, Functional,Magnetic Resonance Images,Resonance Image, Magnetic,Scan, MRI,Scans, MRI,Shift Imaging, Chemical,Shift Imagings, Chemical,Spin Echo Imagings,Steady State Free Precession MRI
D008297 Male Males
D010775 Photic Stimulation Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity. Stimulation, Photic,Visual Stimulation,Photic Stimulations,Stimulation, Visual,Stimulations, Photic,Stimulations, Visual,Visual Stimulations
D011930 Reaction Time The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed. Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D001931 Brain Mapping Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures. Brain Electrical Activity Mapping,Functional Cerebral Localization,Topographic Brain Mapping,Brain Mapping, Topographic,Functional Cerebral Localizations,Mapping, Brain,Mapping, Topographic Brain
D004292 Dominance, Cerebral Dominance of one cerebral hemisphere over the other in cerebral functions. Cerebral Dominance,Hemispheric Specialization,Dominances, Cerebral,Specialization, Hemispheric
D004558 Electric Stimulation Use of electric potential or currents to elicit biological responses. Stimulation, Electric,Electrical Stimulation,Electric Stimulations,Electrical Stimulations,Stimulation, Electrical,Stimulations, Electric,Stimulations, Electrical
D005123 Eye The organ of sight constituting a pair of globular organs made up of a three-layered roughly spherical structure specialized for receiving and responding to light. Eyes
D005133 Eye Movements Voluntary or reflex-controlled movements of the eye. Eye Movement,Movement, Eye,Movements, Eye
D005260 Female Females

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