Brain switches between conscious and suppressed perception about 15 times per second, study finds

Neuroscientists at UC Berkeley report in a preprint that the brain rapidly alternates between conscious and suppressed processing. In an anaglyph-glasses experiment, humans and macaques shown a different face to each eye switched to perceiving the second face rather than blending the images, with alternation occurring roughly 15 times per second in inferotemporal and prefrontal cortex.

• Brain alternates between conscious and suppressed micro-epochs about 15 times per second
• Humans and macaques viewed a different face in each eye via anaglyph glasses
• Activity was recorded in inferotemporal and prefrontal cortex
• Conscious access requires temporal selection beyond localization, researchers say