Temporal integration by multi-level regularities fosters the emergence of dynamic conscious experience.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences March 1, 2024 Ruichen Hu, Shuo Li, Peijun Yuan et al. 1 citation
Structured visual streams containing regularities—whether perceptual (shape, motion) or semantic (idioms)—dominate over unstructured streams in the competition for visual awareness during binocular rivalry. Perceptual- and semantic-level regularities produce rivalry advantages that dissociate: perceptual regularities operate via nonconscious temporal integration and are vulnerable to disruptions of the spatiotemporal integration window, whereas semantic regularities operate via conscious temporal integration and are not. These findings indicate that structure-guided information integration across time contributes to visual awareness through at least two distinct mechanisms, supporting theories that link integration to conscious experience.