Transcranial magnetic stimulation: delays in visual suppression due to luminance changes.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to investigate the delays in visual processing time produced by changes in luminance. By administering a magnetic pulse over the occipital pole 80-140 ms after the onset of visual stimuli, we could suppress perception of a four-digit number within a 30 ms time window. Commensurate with previous studies of visual processing latencies, a drop in luminance from 3.52 logTd to 2.61 logTd delayed the peak of the suppression window by 8.9 ms, while a further drop from 2.61 logTD to 1.75 logTd delayed the peak by an additional 15.4 ms. This study validates the use of TMS as a psychophysical tool.