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Masking visual stimuli by transcranial magnetic stimulation

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Abstract

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over the occipital pole can suppress visual perception. Since its first description in 1989 by Amassian et al., this technique has widely been used to investigate visual processing at the cortical level. This article presents a review of experiments masking visual stimuli by TMS. The psychophysical characterization of TMS masking, the dependence on stimulus onset asynchrony between visual stimulus and TMS pulse, and the topography of masking within the visual field are considered. The relation between visual masking and the generation of phosphenes is discussed as well as the underlying physiological mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank Sandra Beck, Michael Herzog, Katrin Hille, Kuno Kirschfeld, Hans-Günther Nusseck, Klaas Puls, Johannes Rüter, Frank Scharnowski, and Michael Vorwerg for support and for many fruitful discussions.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Ulm, Leimgrubenweg 12–14, 89075, Ulm, Germany

    Thomas Kammer

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Correspondence to Thomas Kammer.

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Kammer, T. Masking visual stimuli by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Psychological Research 71, 659–666 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-006-0063-5

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