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Temporal Inhibition

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

  • 25 Accesses

Synonyms

Backward masking; temporal masking

Definition

Temporal inhibition refers to the suppression of response to a stimulus by presentation of a second stimulus shortly after the first stimulus. This effect can be observed across sensory modalities, particularly with respect to auditory and visual processing. In the context of visual perception, temporal inhibition is evident in paradigms involving backward visual masking. Temporal inhibition provides a constraint on the rate of information processing for sequentially presented visual stimuli.

Current Knowledge

Temporal masking is most easily observed in the auditory modality when a sudden sound interferes with the detection of other sounds that occurred immediately before the second sound. The reason for this is that the time range for this type of masking is relatively long. Similar effects are observed with visual stimuli presented in sequence, though masking typically occurs with shorter asynchronies between stimuli (<50 ms)....

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References and Readings

  • Breitmeyer, B. G. (2007). Visual masking: Past accomplishments, present status, future developments. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 3, 9–20.

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  • Breitmeyer, B. G., & Öğmen, H. (2006). Visual masking: Time slices through conscious and unconscious vision. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  • Breitmeyer, B. G., Ro, T., & Öğmen, H. (2004). A comparison of masking by visual and transcranial magnetic stimulation: Implications for the study of conscious and unconscious visual processing. Conscious Cognition, 13, 829–843.

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  • Francis, G. (1997). Cortical dynamics of lateral inhibition: Metacontrast masking. Psychological Review, 104, 572–594.

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  • Kinsbourne, M., & Warrington, E. K. (1962). The effect of an aftercoming random pattern on the perception of brief visual stimuli. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 14, 223–234.

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  • Lamme, V. A. F., Zipser, K., & Spekreijse, H. (2002). Masking interrupts figure-ground signals in V1. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 1044–1053.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL, 32611, USA

    Ronald Cohen

Authors
  1. Ronald Cohen
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Correspondence to Ronald Cohen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Cohen, R. (2017). Temporal Inhibition. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1406-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1406-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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