Fig. 1.

Visual stimulus suppression by TMS. In typical experiments, TMS is applied at various timings relative to the onset of visual stimulus presentation, and task performance (e.g., identification of a visual stimulus, typically presented briefly [tens of milliseconds]) is measured. Previous experiments have reported that task performance significantly deteriorates if TMS is applied during a limited time window, approximately from 50 ms to 150 ms (or even later timing) after the onset of stimulus presentation. The magnitude of suppression depends on the timing of TMS application, showing an inverted bell-shaped curve as illustrated. Suppression is typically most prominent around 80–100 ms