Can binocular rivalry reveal neural correlates of consciousness?

Blake, Randolph; Brascamp, Jan W.; Heeger, David J.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0211

Cited by 86 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 99 publications

(131 reference statements)

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“…During binocular rivalry, perceptual experience evolves dynamically while the external inputs are held constant. Binocular rivalry thereby provides an opportunity to gain insights about the intrinsic cortical computations underlying visual perception (1,2).…”

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confidence: 99%

Attention model of binocular rivalry

Rankin

Rinzel

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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When the corresponding retinal locations in the two eyes are presented with incompatible images, a stable percept gives way to perceptual alternations in which the two images compete for perceptual dominance. As perceptual experience evolves dynamically under constant external inputs, binocular rivalry has been used for studying intrinsic cortical computations and for understanding how the brain regulates competing inputs. Converging behavioral and EEG results have shown that binocular rivalry and attention are intertwined: binocular rivalry ceases when attention is diverted away from the rivalry stimuli. In addition, the competing image in one eye suppresses the target in the other eye through a pattern of gain changes similar to those induced by attention. These results require a revision of the current computational theories of binocular rivalry, in which the role of attention is ignored. Here, we provide a computational model of binocular rivalry. In the model, competition between two images in rivalry is driven by both attentional modulation and mutual inhibition, which have distinct selectivity (feature vs. eye of origin) and dynamics (relatively slow vs. relatively fast). The proposed model explains a wide range of phenomena reported in rivalry, including the three hallmarks: (i) binocular rivalry requires attention; (ii) various perceptual states emerge when the two images are swapped between the eyes multiple times per second; (iii) the dominance duration as a function of input strength follows Levelt's propositions. With a bifurcation analysis, we identified the parameter space in which the model's behavior was consistent with experimental results.B inocular rivalry is a visual phenomenon in which perception alternates between incompatible monocular images presented to the two eyes. During binocular rivalry, perceptual experience evolves dynamically while the external inputs are held constant. Binocular rivalry thereby provides an opportunity to gain insights about the intrinsic cortical computations underlying visual perception (1, 2).In conventional models of binocular rivalry, the competition between two percepts has been characterized as mutual inhibition between two populations of neurons selective for each of the two stimuli (3-11). Notwithstanding the differences in their details, these models consider the neural processing underlying binocular rivalry to be an automatic process. These models predict, therefore, that the dynamics of binocular rivalry are influenced mainly by bottom-up sensory inputs.Converging experimental evidence has shown, however, that binocular rivalry also depends on attention (for a review, see ref.12). First, EEG has been used to measure a neural correlate of the perceptual alternations during binocular rivalry when observers pay attention to the rival stimuli (13). However, this rivalry-induced modulation of the EEG signal is largely or entirely eliminated when attention is diverted away from the stimuli (14). Second, behavioral experiments comparing the perceptual cons...

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confidence: 99%

Attention model of binocular rivalry

Rankin

Rinzel

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Articles in the Theme Issue also present pronounced critical stances, for example in Blake et al [29] about the implications of binocular rivalry research for understanding the NCC. Critical stances, with special reference to methodological issues and their limitations in addressing multisensory constraints of awareness, are also emphasized in the article of Deroy et al [92].…”

Section: This Theme Issue At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an important milestone, Crick & Koch [61] oriented research towards the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), meant as the minimal set of neuronal events and mechanisms sufficient for a specific conscious percept (see also [29]). Several methodologies have been used to identify the NCC [62].…”

Section: Understanding the Neural Basis Of Perceptual Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It comprises contributions focused on advances about more 'classical' aspects of perceptual awareness, such as visual masking [14], binocular rivalry [29,32], the roles of attention [25,38] and conscious access, such as inattentional blindness and attentional blink [25], and others stressing new interesting directions to explore, such as the cyclic (discrete) nature of perception in vision versus audition [56], multisensory awareness [92] and the role of internal body representations for enabling subjectivity in perceptual experiences [93]. Visual search findings and theories are also considered [25].…”

Section: This Theme Issue At a Glancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceptual awareness and its neural basis: bridging experimental and theoretical paradigms

Raffone

Srinivasan

Leeuwen

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Understanding consciousness is a major scientific challenge of our times, and perceptual awareness is an integral part of that challenge. This Theme Issue aims to provide a timely focus on crucial insights from leading scientists on perceptual awareness and its neural basis. The issue refers to key research questions and findings in perceptual awareness research and aims to be a catalyst for further research, by bringing together the state-of-the-art. It shows how bridges are being built between empirical and theoretical research and proposes new directions for the study of multisensory awareness and the role of the states of the body therein. In this introduction, we highlight crucial problems that have characterized the development of the study of perceptual awareness. We then provide an overview of major experimental and theoretical paradigms related to perceptual awareness and its neural basis. Finally, we present an overview of the Theme Issue, with reference to the contributed articles and their relationships

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“…Under these conditions, binocular rivalry takes over and visual awareness stochastically alternates between the conflicting images presented to the two eyes. Binocular rivalry has fascinated scientists for centuries because its characteristic dissociation of fluctuating perception and constant visual input offers an experimental window on the neural mechanisms of consciousness (2)(3)(4)(5). Although much of the experimental work on binocular rivalry has focused on stimulus parameters (3) and contextual influences (6) that modulate its phenomenology, or on the computational principles that could underlie perceptual alternations (7), the actual cause of binocular rivalry has received far less investigation.…”

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confidence: 99%