title: Subliminal words durably affect neuronal activity.
abstract: Unconscious mental representations elicited by subliminal stimuli are marked by their fleeting lifetimes, usually below 1 s. Can such evanescent subliminal stimuli, nevertheless, lead to long-lasting learning? To date, evidence suggesting a long-term influence of briefly perceived stimuli on behaviour or brain activity is scarce and questionable. In this study, we used intracranial recordings to provide the first direct demonstration that unconsciously perceived subliminal words could exert long-lasting effects on neuronal signals. When repeating subliminal words over long interstimulus intervals, we observed electrophysiological repetition effects. These unconscious repetition effects suggest that the single presentation of a masked word can durably affect neural architecture.
authors: AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital & University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
authors: Raphaël
authors: R
authors: Gaillard
authors: Laurent
authors: L
authors: Cohen
authors: Claude
authors: C
authors: Adam
authors: Stéphane
authors: S
authors: Clemenceau
authors: Dominique
authors: D
authors: Hasboun
authors: Michel
authors: M
authors: Baulac
authors: Jean-Claude
authors: JC
authors: Willer
authors: Stanislas
authors: S
authors: Dehaene
authors: Lionel
authors: L
authors: Naccache
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004594:Electrophysiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation