On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts
Binocular rivalry refers to the alternating perceptions experienced when two dissimilar patterns are stereoscopically viewed. To study the neural mechanism that underlies such competitive interactions, single cells were recorded in the visual areas V1, V2, and V4, while monkeys reported the perceive...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
2004
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6648 |
| _version_ | 1826213495306190848 |
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| author | Logothetis, N.K. Leopold, D.A. |
| author_facet | Logothetis, N.K. Leopold, D.A. |
| author_sort | Logothetis, N.K. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Binocular rivalry refers to the alternating perceptions experienced when two dissimilar patterns are stereoscopically viewed. To study the neural mechanism that underlies such competitive interactions, single cells were recorded in the visual areas V1, V2, and V4, while monkeys reported the perceived orientation of rivaling sinusoidal grating patterns. A number of neurons in all areas showed alternating periods of excitation and inhibition that correlated with the perceptual dominance and suppression of the cell"s preferred orientation. The remaining population of cells were not influenced by whether or not the optimal stimulus orientation was perceptually suppressed. Response modulation during rivalry was not correlated with cell attributes such as monocularity, binocularity, or disparity tuning. These results suggest that the awareness of a visual pattern during binocular rivalry arises through interactions between neurons at different levels of visual pathways, and that the site of suppression is unlikely to correspond to a particular visual area, as often hypothesized on the basis of psychophysical observations. The cell-types of modulating neurons and their overwhelming preponderance in higher rather than in early visual areas also suggests -- together with earlier psychophysical evidence -- the possibility of a common mechanism underlying rivalry as well as other bistable percepts, such as those experienced with ambiguous figures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:50:08Z |
| id | mit-1721.1/6648 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:50:08Z |
| publishDate | 2004 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/66482019-04-11T02:52:40Z On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts Logothetis, N.K. Leopold, D.A. Binocular rivalry refers to the alternating perceptions experienced when two dissimilar patterns are stereoscopically viewed. To study the neural mechanism that underlies such competitive interactions, single cells were recorded in the visual areas V1, V2, and V4, while monkeys reported the perceived orientation of rivaling sinusoidal grating patterns. A number of neurons in all areas showed alternating periods of excitation and inhibition that correlated with the perceptual dominance and suppression of the cell"s preferred orientation. The remaining population of cells were not influenced by whether or not the optimal stimulus orientation was perceptually suppressed. Response modulation during rivalry was not correlated with cell attributes such as monocularity, binocularity, or disparity tuning. These results suggest that the awareness of a visual pattern during binocular rivalry arises through interactions between neurons at different levels of visual pathways, and that the site of suppression is unlikely to correspond to a particular visual area, as often hypothesized on the basis of psychophysical observations. The cell-types of modulating neurons and their overwhelming preponderance in higher rather than in early visual areas also suggests -- together with earlier psychophysical evidence -- the possibility of a common mechanism underlying rivalry as well as other bistable percepts, such as those experienced with ambiguous figures. 2004-10-08T20:36:21Z 2004-10-08T20:36:21Z 1995-11-01 AIM-1553 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6648 en_US AIM-1553 3928615 bytes 3777653 bytes application/postscript application/pdf application/postscript application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Logothetis, N.K. Leopold, D.A. On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts |
| title | On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts |
| title_full | On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts |
| title_fullStr | On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts |
| title_short | On the Physiology of Bistable Percepts |
| title_sort | on the physiology of bistable percepts |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6648 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT logothetisnk onthephysiologyofbistablepercepts AT leopoldda onthephysiologyofbistablepercepts |