Dynamic properties of internal noise probed by modulating binocular rivalry

Abstract

Neural systems are inherently noisy, and this noise can affect our perception from moment to moment. This is particularly apparent in binocular rivalry, where perception of competing stimuli shown to the left and right eyes alternates over time. We modulated rivalling stimuli using dynamic sequences of external noise of various rates and amplitudes. We repeated each external noise sequence twice, and assessed the consistency of percepts across repetitions. External noise modulations of sufficiently high contrast increased consistency scores above baseline, and were most effective at 1/8Hz. A computational model of rivalry in which internal noise has a 1/ f (pink) temporal amplitude spectrum, and a standard deviation of 16% contrast, provided the best account of our data. Our novel technique provides detailed estimates of the dynamic properties of internal noise during binocular rivalry, and by extension the stochastic processes that drive our perception and other types of spontaneous brain activity.

Auditory streaming emerges from fast excitation and slow delayed inhibition

“…The model could be extended to consider perceptual competition and bistability by incorporating further downstream into a competition stage (in the same spirit as [ 17 ]). An extended framework would provide the ideal setting to explore perceptual entrainment through the periodic [ 65 ] or stochastic [ 66 ] modulation of a parameter like df .…”

Dynamics of a mutual inhibition between pyramidal neurons compared to human perceptual competition

“…In addition to neural adaptation, we investigated the effect of neural noise on the dynamics of bi-stable activity. The apparent stochasticity in the sequence of reversals and the skewed distribution of dominance durations (Levelt, 1967) in bi-stable perception led to studies on the role of noise (Baker & Richard, 2019;Brascamp et al, 2006;Huguet et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2006;Moreno-Bote et al, 2007;Pisarchik et al, 2014). To investigate the effect of noise in our experimental model, we incorporated a neuro-computational model of synaptic noise into the dynamic clamp system.…”

Auditory streaming emerges from fast excitation and slow delayed inhibition

“…Next steps include the extension the model with a competition stage to capture the dynamics of perceptual bistability [46,50]. An extended framework would provide the ideal setting to explore perceptual entrainment through the periodic [8] or stochastic [3] modulation of a parameter like df.…”