We investigated the dynamics of natural scene processing and mechanisms of pattern
masking in a scene-recognition task. Psychophysical recognition performance and the
magnetoencephalogram (MEG) were recorded simultaneously. Photographs of natural
scenes were briefly displayed and in the masked condition immediately followed by a
pattern mask. Viewing the scenes without masking elicited a transient occipital activation
that started approximately 70 ms after the pattern onset, peaked at 110 ms, and ended after …

We investigated the mechanisms of pattern masking in a scene recognition task by
recording simultaneously psychophysical performance and magnetic brain activity using
magnetoencephalography (MEG). Photographs of natural scenes were displayed for various
durations and then immediately followed by a pattern mask. We were able to identify the
transient brain activation caused by the switching from scene to mask. The latency of this
mask-transient signals the earliest cortical interaction between target and mask. The scenes …