Oscillations in motor priming: positive rebound follows the inhibitory phase in the masked prime paradigm.
Masked stimuli can cause partial motor activation and prime responses to subsequent stimuli. Under certain conditions, a biphasic pattern appears, such that positive priming precedes a negative phase, which has been interpreted as evidence of an inhibitory mechanism that suppresses the motor activity caused by the prime. In this article, the authors report evidence for a further reversal in priming: In two experiments, the authors found that the negative compatibility effect was followed by a small but repeatable positive priming effect at an interval of approximately 500 ms between prime and target. Thus, masked primes appear to produce a triphasic pattern of priming, which is consistent with the notion that oscillation between facilitation and inhibition may be a fundamental property of the competitive interactions between response alternatives in the motor system.
Sumner
Petroc
P
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom. sumnerp@cardiff.ac.uk
Brandwood
Tracey
T
D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012032:Refractory Period, Electrophysiological / Q000502:physiology; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation; D013997:Time Factors