scholarly journals Right parietal brain activity precedes perceptual alternation during binocular rivalry

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1432-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Britz ◽  
Michael A. Pitts ◽  
Christoph M. Michel
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Perceptual Alternation

scholarly journals Alpha fluctuations regulate the accrual of visual information to awareness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireia Torralba ◽  
Alice Drew ◽  
Alba Sabaté San José ◽  
Luis Morís Fernández ◽  
Salvador Soto-Faraco
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Visual Awareness ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Visual Inputs ◽  
Perceptual Alternation ◽  
Eeg Recordings ◽  
The Individual

AbstractEndogenous brain processes play a paramount role in shaping up perceptual phenomenology, as illustrated by the alternations experienced by humans (and other animals) when watching perceptually ambiguous, static images. Here, we hypothesised that endogenous alpha fluctuations in the visual cortex pace the accumulation of sensory information leading to perceptual outcomes. We addressed this hypothesis using binocular rivalry combined with visual entrainment and electroencephalography in humans (42 female, 40 male). The results revealed a correlation between the individual frequency of alpha oscillations in the occipital cortex and perceptual alternation rates experienced during binocular rivalry. In subsequent experiments we show that regulating endogenous brain activity via entrainment produced corresponding changes in perceptual alternation rate, which were observed only in the alpha range but not at lower entrainment frequencies. Overall, rhythmic alpha stimulation resulted in faster perceptual alternation rates, compared to arrhythmic or no stimulation. These findings support the notion that visual information is accumulated via alpha cycles to promote the emergence of conscious perceptual representations. We suggest that models of binocular rivalry incorporating posterior alpha as a pacemaker can provide an important advance in the comprehension of the dynamics of visual awareness.Significance statementMainstream theories in cognitive neuroscience agree that endogenous brain processes play a paramount role in shaping our perceptual experience of sensory inputs. In vision, endogenous fluctuations in the alpha rhythm have been pointed out to regulate visual inputs to perception. In support of this hypothesis, here we used EEG recordings and visual entrainment to demonstrate that inter-individual differences in the speed of endogenous alpha fluctuations in the brain are causally related to the accrual of visual information to awareness. These findings provide, for the first time, evidence for alpha-gated regulation of the dynamics of alternations in conscious visual perception.

scholarly journals Color-Binding Errors During Rivalrous Suppression of Form

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1084-1091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Wook Hong ◽  
Steven K. Shevell
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
The Other ◽  
Physical Stimulus ◽  
Physical Stimulation ◽  
Eye Color ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Perceptual Alternation ◽  
Different Color ◽  
Binding Errors

How does a physical stimulus determine a conscious percept? Binocular rivalry provides useful insights into this question because constant physical stimulation during rivalry causes different visual experiences. For example, presentation of vertical stripes to one eye and horizontal stripes to the other eye results in a percept that alternates between horizontal and vertical stripes. Presentation of a different color to each eye (color rivalry) produces alternating percepts of the two colors or, in some cases, a color mixture. The experiments reported here reveal a novel and instructive resolution of rivalry for stimuli that differ in both form and color: perceptual alternation between the rivalrous forms (e.g., horizontal or vertical stripes), with both eyes' colors seen simultaneously in separate parts of the currently perceived form. Thus, the colors presented to the two eyes (a) maintain their distinct neural representations despite resolution of form rivalry and (b) can bind separately to distinct parts of the perceived form.

Binocular rivalry between identical retinal stimuli with an induced color difference

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANG WOOK HONG ◽  
STEVEN K. SHEVELL
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Binocular Disparity ◽  
Color Difference ◽  
Color Appearance ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Stereoscopic Depth ◽  
Perceptual Alternation ◽  
Physically Identical ◽  
Open Question

An open question in color rivalry is whether alternation between two colors is caused by a difference in receptoral stimulation or a difference in the neural representation of color appearance. This question was examined with binocular rivalry between physically identical lights that differed in appearance due to chromatic induction. Perceptual alternation was measured between gratings of the same chromaticity; each one was presented within a different patterned surround that caused the gratings, one to each eye, to appear unequal in hue because of chromatic induction. The gratings were presented dichoptically with binocular disparity so the rivalrous gratings appeared in front of the surround. Perceptual alternation in hue was found for the two physically identical chromaticities. Stereoscopic depth also was perceived, corroborating binocular neural combination despite color rivalry (Treisman, 1962). The results show that color rivalry is resolved after color-appearance shifts caused by chromatic context, and that color rivalry does not require competing unequal cone excitations from the rivalrous stimuli.

scholarly journals Evidence for neural rhythms embedded within binocular rivalry

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (30) ◽  
pp. 14811-14812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oakyoon Cha ◽  
Randolph Blake
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Perceptual Judgments ◽  
Multistable Perception ◽  
Periodic Fluctuations

Evidence for perceptual periodicity emerges from studies showing periodic fluctuations in visual perception and decision making that are accompanied by neural oscillations in brain activity. We have uncovered signs of periodicity in the time course of binocular rivalry, a widely studied form of multistable perception. This was done by analyzing time series data contained in an unusually large dataset of rivalry state durations associated with states of exclusive monocular dominance and states of mixed perception during transitions between exclusive dominance. Identifiable within the varying durations of dynamic mixed perception are rhythmic clusters of durations whose incidence falls within the frequency band associated with oscillations in neural activity accompanying periodicity in perceptual judgments. Endogenous neural oscillations appear to be especially impactful when perception is unusually confounding.

scholarly journals HIERARCHICAL SPATIO-TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF A CHAOTIC NEURAL NETWORK FOR MULTISTABLE BINOCULAR RIVALRY

2009 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUTA KAKIMOTO ◽  
KAZUYUKI AIHARA
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Chaotic Neural Network ◽  
Perceptual Alternation ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Special Case

Binocular rivalry is perceptual alternation that occurs when different visual images are presented to each eye. Despite the intensive studies, the mechanism of binocular rivalry still remains unclear. In multistable binocular rivalry, which is a special case of binocular rivalry, it is known that the perceptual alternation between paired patterns is more frequent than that between unpaired patterns. This result suggests that perceptual transition in binocular rivalry is not a simple random process, and the memories stored in the brain can play an important role in the perceptual transition. In this study, we propose a hierarchical chaotic neural network model for multistable binocular rivalry and show that our model reproduces some characteristic features observed in multistable binocular rivalry.

scholarly journals Distinct Contributions of the Magnocellular and Parvocellular Visual Streams to Perceptual Selection

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 246-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel N. Denison ◽  
Michael A. Silver
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Hierarchical Organization ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Multiple Stimulus ◽  
Perceptual Alternation ◽  
New Framework ◽  
Regular Alternation

During binocular rivalry, conflicting images presented to the two eyes compete for perceptual dominance, but the neural basis of this competition is disputed. In interocular switch rivalry, rival images periodically exchanged between the two eyes generate one of two types of perceptual alternation: (1) a fast, regular alternation between the images that is time-locked to the stimulus switches and has been proposed to arise from competition at lower levels of the visual processing hierarchy or (2) a slow, irregular alternation spanning multiple stimulus switches that has been associated with higher levels of the visual system. The existence of these two types of perceptual alternation has been influential in establishing the view that rivalry may be resolved at multiple hierarchical levels of the visual system. We varied the spatial, temporal, and luminance properties of interocular switch rivalry gratings and found, instead, an association between fast, regular perceptual alternations and processing by the magnocellular stream and between slow, irregular alternations and processing by the parvocellular stream. The magnocellular and parvocellular streams are two early visual pathways that are specialized for the processing of motion and form, respectively. These results provide a new framework for understanding the neural substrates of binocular rivalry that emphasizes the importance of parallel visual processing streams, and not only hierarchical organization, in the perceptual resolution of ambiguities in the visual environment.

scholarly journals Right Parietal Brain Activity Precedes Perceptual Alternation of Bistable Stimuli

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Britz ◽  
Theodor Landis ◽  
Christoph M. Michel
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Perceptual Alternation

scholarly journals Regulating the Access to Awareness: Brain Activity Related to Probe-related and Spontaneous Reversals in Binocular Rivalry

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1089-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Metzger ◽  
Kyle E. Mathewson ◽  
Evelina Tapia ◽  
Monica Fabiani ◽  
Gabriele Gratton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Stimulus Change ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Visual Awareness ◽  
Intermediate Stage ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Network Properties ◽  
Per Se

Research on the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) has implicated an assortment of brain regions, ERP components, and network properties associated with visual awareness. Recently, the P3b ERP component has emerged as a leading NCC candidate. However, typical P3b paradigms depend on the detection of some stimulus change, making it difficult to separate brain processes elicited by the stimulus itself from those associated with updates or changes in visual awareness. Here we used binocular rivalry to ask whether the P3b is associated with changes in awareness even in the absence of changes in the object of awareness. We recorded ERPs during a probe-mediated binocular rivalry paradigm in which brief probes were presented over the image in either the suppressed or dominant eye to determine whether the elicited P3b activity is probe or reversal related. We found that the timing of P3b (but not its amplitude) was closely related to the timing of the report of a perceptual change rather than to the onset of the probe. This is consistent with the proposal that P3b indexes updates in conscious awareness, rather than being related to stimulus processing per se. Conversely, the probe-related P1 amplitude (but not its latency) was associated with reversal latency, suggesting that the degree to which the probe is processed increases the likelihood of a fast perceptual reversal. Finally, the response-locked P3b amplitude (but not its latency) was associated with the duration of an intermediate stage between reversals in which parts of both percepts coexist (piecemeal period). Together, the data suggest that the P3b reflects an update in consciousness and that the intensity of that process (as indexed by P3b amplitude) predicts how immediate that update is.

scholarly journals A Neural Basis for Percept Stabilization in Binocular Rivalry

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Sterzer ◽  
Geraint Rees
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Behavioral Experiment ◽  
Conscious Perception ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Bistable Perception ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
High Level

When the same visual input has conflicting interpretations, conscious perception can alternate spontaneously between each competing percept. Surprisingly, such bistable perception can be stabilized by intermittent stimulus removal, suggesting the existence of perceptual “memory” across interruptions in stimulation. The neural basis of such a process remains unknown. Here, we studied binocular rivalry, one type of bistable perception, in two linked experiments in human participants. First, we showed, in a behavioral experiment using binocular rivalry between face and grating stimuli, that the stabilizing effect of stimulus removal was specific to perceptual alternations evoked by rivalry, and did not occur following physical alternations in the absence of rivalry. We then used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity in a variable delay period of stimulus removal. Activity in the fusiform face area during the delay period following removal of rivalrous stimuli was greater following face than grating perception, whereas such a difference was absent during removal of non-rivalrous stimuli. Moreover, activity in areas of fronto-parietal regions during the delay period correlated with the degree to which individual participants tended to experience percept stabilization. Our findings suggest that percept-related activity in specialized extrastriate visual areas help to stabilize perception during perceptual conflict, and that high-level mechanisms may determine the influence of such signals on conscious perception.

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