Brain processes visual info not shared with conscious perception

As children, many of us encountered optical illusions, such as Rubin's Vase, which could be perceived as either two faces or a vase. Using this concept, a new study published in the journal Psychological Science demonstrates that our brains process visual input that we may never perceive consciously.

The study, led by doctoral degree candidate Jay Sanguinetti at the University of Arizona (UA), challenges widely accepted ideas about how the brain processes visual data.

While showing participants various images of black silhouettes - some that contained hidden objects in the bordering white spaces and some that did not - Sanguinetti and his team monitored their brainwaves with an electroencephalogram (EEG).

The brainwaves suggested that even when the subjects did not consciously recognize the bordering shapes, their brains had analyzed those shapes and grasped their meaning.