scholarly journals Perceptual Alternation Induced by Visual Transients

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p5245 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 803-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryota Kanai ◽  
Farshad Moradi ◽  
Shinsuke Shimojo ◽  
Frans A J Verstraten
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Apparent Motion ◽  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Structure From Motion ◽  
Necker Cube ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Perceptual Alternation ◽  
Ambiguous Stimuli ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

When our visual system is confronted with ambiguous stimuli, the perceptual interpretation spontaneously alternates between the competing incompatible interpretations. The timing of such perceptual alternations is highly stochastic and the underlying neural mechanisms are poorly understood. We show that perceptual alternations can be triggered by a transient stimulus presented nearby. The induction was tested for four types of bistable stimuli: structure-from-motion, binocular rivalry, Necker cube, and ambiguous apparent motion. While underlying mechanisms may vary among them, a transient flash induced time-locked perceptual alternations in all cases. The effect showed a dependence on the adaptation to the dominant percept prior to the presentation of a flash. These perceptual alternations show many similarities to perceptual disappearances induced by transient stimuli (Kanai and Kamitani, 2003 Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience15 664–672; Moradi and Shimojo, 2004 Vision Research44 449–460). Mechanisms linking these two transient-induced phenomena are discussed.

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 Conscious perception and perceptual echoes: a binocular rivalry study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Canhuang Luo ◽  
Rufin VanRullen ◽  
Andrea Alamia
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Travelling Wave ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Conscious Perception ◽  
Impulse Response Functions ◽  
Band Frequency ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract Alpha rhythms (∼10Hz) in the human brain are classically associated with idling activities, being predominantly observed during quiet restfulness with closed eyes. However, recent studies demonstrated that alpha (∼10Hz) rhythms can directly relate to visual stimulation, resulting in oscillations, which can last for as long as one second. This alpha reverberation, dubbed perceptual echoes (PE), suggests that the visual system actively samples and processes visual information within the alpha-band frequency. Although PE have been linked to various visual functions, their underlying mechanisms and functional role are not completely understood. In this study, we investigated the relationship between conscious perception and the generation and the amplitude of PE. Specifically, we displayed two coloured Gabor patches with different orientations on opposite sides of the screen, and using a set of dichoptic mirrors, we induced a binocular rivalry between the two stimuli. We asked participants to continuously report which one of two Gabor patches they consciously perceived, while recording their EEG signals. Importantly, the luminance of each patch fluctuated randomly over time, generating random sequences from which we estimated two impulse-response functions (IRFs) reflecting the PE generated by the perceived (dominant) and non-perceived (suppressed) stimulus, respectively. We found that the alpha power of the PE generated by the consciously perceived stimulus was comparable with that of the PE generated during monocular vision (control condition) and higher than the PE induced by the suppressed stimulus. Moreover, confirming previous findings, we found that all PEs propagated as a travelling wave from posterior to frontal brain regions, irrespective of conscious perception. All in all our results demonstrate a correlation between conscious perception and PE, suggesting that the synchronization of neural activity plays an important role in visual sampling and conscious 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.

Inferring Structure from Motion in Two-View and Multiview Displays

Perception ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 1441-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C Liter ◽  
Myron L Braunstein ◽  
Donald D Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Relative Motion ◽  
Apparent Motion ◽  
Structure From Motion ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Rigid Motion ◽  
Parameter Family ◽  
Image Motion ◽  
Heuristic Analysis

Five experiments were conducted to examine constraints used to interpret structure-from-motion displays. Theoretically, two orthographic views of four or more points in rigid motion yield a one-parameter family of rigid three-dimensional (3-D) interpretations. Additional views yield a unique rigid interpretation. Subjects viewed two-view and thirty-view displays of five-point objects in apparent motion. The subjects selected the best 3-D interpretation from a set of 89 compatible alternatives (experiments 1–3) or judged depth directly (experiment 4). In both cases the judged depth increased when relative image motion increased, even when the increased motion was due to increased simulation rotation. Subjects also judged rotation to be greater when either simulated depth or simulated rotation increased (experiment 4). The results are consistent with a heuristic analysis in which perceived depth is determined by relative motion.

Man, Monkey, and Blindsight

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tirin Moore ◽  
Hillary R. Rodman ◽  
Charles G. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Function ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Residual Vision ◽  
Choice Testing

The visual function that survives damage to the primary visual cortex (V1) in humans is often unaccompanied by awareness. This type of residual vision, called “blindsight,” has raised considerable interest because it implies a separation of conscious from unconscious vision mechanisms. The monkey visual system has proven to be a useful model in elucidating the possible neural mechanisms of residual vision and blindsight in humans. Clear similarities, however, between the phenomenology of human and monkey residual vision have only recently become evident. This article summarizes parallels between residual vision in monkeys and humans with damage to V1. These parallels Include the tendency of the remaining vision to require forced-choice testing and the fact that more robust residual vision remains when V1 damage is sustained early in life. NEUROSCIENTIST 4:227–230

Neurobiological correlates of apparent motion perception in the human visual system using magnetoencephalography

NeuroImage ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 893
Author(s):  
C.I. Horenstein ◽  
R.R. Ramirez ◽  
E. Kronberg ◽  
U. Ribary ◽  
R.R. Llinas
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Motion Perception ◽  
Apparent Motion ◽  
Human Visual System

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.

Perceptual Organization in Multistable Apparent Motion

Perception ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilayanur S Ramachandran ◽  
Stuart M Anstis
Keyword(s):  
Motion Perception ◽  
Apparent Motion ◽  
Perceptual Organization ◽  
Necker Cube ◽  
The Other ◽  
Horizontal Oscillation ◽  
Random Location ◽  
Single Figure ◽  
Looking Back

Is motion perception based on a local piecemeal analysis of the image or do ‘global’ effects also play an important role? Use was made of bistable apparent-motion displays in trying to answer this question. Two spots were flashed simultaneously on diagonally opposite corners of a 1 deg wide square and then switched off and replaced by two spots appearing on the other two corners. One can either see vertical or horizontal oscillation and the display is bistable just as a Necker cube is. If several such bistable figures are randomly scattered on the screen and presented simultaneously, then one usually sees the same motion axis in all of them, suggesting the presence of field-like effects for resolving ambiguity in apparent motion. While viewing a single figure observers experience hysteresis: they tend to adhere to one motion axis or the other and can switch the axis only by looking away and looking back after 10–30 s have elapsed. The figure can be switched off and made to reappear at some other random location on the screen and it is then always found to retain its motion axis. Several such demonstrations are presented to show that spatial induction effects in metastable motion displays may provide a particularly valuable probe for studying ‘laws’ of perceptual organization.

The Site of Binocular Rivalry Suppression

Perception ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph Blake ◽  
Randall Overton
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Human Visual System ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Threshold Elevation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Contrast Adaptation ◽  
A Site ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

Two experiments were performed to localize the site of binocular rivalry suppression in relation to the locus of grating adaptation. In one experiment it was found that phenomenal suppression of a high-contrast adaptation grating presented to one eye had no influence on the strength of the threshold-elevation aftereffect measured interocularly. Evidently information about the adaptation grating arrives at the site of the aftereffect (presumably binocular neurons) even during suppression. In a second experiment 60 s of grating adaptation was found to produce a short-term reduction in the predominance of the adapted eye during binocular rivalry. These findings provide converging lines of evidence that suppression occurs at a site in the human visual system after the locus of grating adaptation and, hence, after the striate cortex.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document