Sensory Gating of Conscious Perception: The Influence of Stimuli Intensities, Timing, and Predictability

Abstract

This thesis extends our current knowledge about the gating of conscious perception of sensory stimuli. Three experimental series identify how stimuli intensities, presentation timing, predictability, and cortical responses influence awareness that sensory gating has occurred. The findings led to a new conceptual model of how attention facilitates the allocation of neural resources towards the processing of sensory information, explaining how intensity, timing, and cortical responses interact and modulate our conscious perception.