Continuous flash suppression

Continuous flash suppression (CFS) is an adapted version of the original flash suppression method, first reported in 2004.^[1][2] In CFS, the first eye is presented with a static stimulus, such as a schematic face, while the second eye is presented with a series of rapidly changing stimuli. The result is the static stimulus becomes consciously repressed by the stimuli presented in the second eye. A variant of CFS to suppress a dynamic stimulus is also reported.^[3]

CFS not only successfully suppresses images, but it strengthens the depth and duration of suppression compared to previous methods, such as flash suppression and binocular rivalry. CFS has the highest magnitude of suppression and allows researchers to increase the suppression time of an image tenfold.^[4] Using this method, subjects may report an image presented in their visual field as being invisible for over three minutes. CFS has the longest suppression time compared to other methods. CFS opens the door to studying preconscious processing mechanisms involved in visual perception.^[5]