The temporal advantage for reloading vs. uploading conscious representations decays over time

In motion-induced blindness (MIB), a static target superimposed on a global moving pattern frequently disappears and reappears into consciousness. We previously reported an intriguing illusory temporal reversal whereby a new stimulus onset (e.g. a dot flash) presented during MIB triggers an early reappearance of the target, yet is systematically perceived as occurring after the target reappearance. This illusion implies that the unconscious target representation can be quickly reactivated, with a temporal advantage for its conscious reloading as compared to the conscious uploading of a newly presented visual stimulus. However, it remains unclear whether the temporal advantage for conscious representation reloading strengthens, decays, or remains constant over time after we lose the initial conscious access to the stimulus. To address this question, we examined the relation between the duration of MIB and the percentage of illusory temporal reversals, and we found a negative correlation between the two measures, both between and within observers. The results suggest that although the unconscious target representation retains a certain level of activation during MIB, the temporal advantage for reloading its preexisting representation into consciousness decays over time.