School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; email:
Department of Psychology and The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel; email:
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2022 Jul 8;45:403-423. doi: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-110920-033151.
The extent to which we are affected by perceptual input of which we are unaware is widely debated. By measuring neural responses to sensory stimulation, neuroscientific data could complement behavioral results with valuable evidence. Here we review neuroscientific findings of processing of high-level information, as well as interactions with attention and memory. Although the results are mixed, we find initial support for processing object categories and words, possibly to the semantic level, as well as emotional expressions. Robust neural evidence for face individuation and integration of sentences or scenes is lacking. Attention affects the processing of stimuli that are not consciously perceived, and such stimuli may exogenously but not endogenously capture attention when relevant, and be maintained in memory over time. Sources of inconsistency in the literature include variability in control for awareness as well as individual differences, calling for future studies that adopt stricter measures of awareness and probe multiple processes within subjects.
我们对外界未察觉的感知输入的影响程度存在广泛争议。通过测量神经对感官刺激的反应，神经科学数据可以用有价值的证据补充行为结果。在这里，我们回顾了高级信息处理的神经科学发现，以及与注意力和记忆的相互作用。尽管结果喜忧参半，但我们发现对物体类别和单词（可能到语义水平）以及情感表达的处理存在初步支持。缺乏对面孔个体化以及句子或场景整合的稳健神经证据。注意力会影响到那些未被有意识感知到的刺激的处理，并且当这些刺激相关时，它们可能会在外源性地但不是内源性地吸引注意力，并随着时间的推移在记忆中保持。文献中不一致的来源包括对意识的控制以及个体差异的可变性，因此需要未来的研究采用更严格的意识测量方法，并在受试者中探查多个过程。
