Slow rhythmic eye motion predicts periodic alternation of bistable perception

Abstract

Bistable perception is characterized by periodic alternation between two different perceptual interpretations, the mechanism of which is poorly understood. Herein, we show that perceptual decisions in bistable perception are strongly correlated with slow rhythmic eye motion, the frequency of which varies across individuals. From eye gaze trajectory measurements during three types of bistable tasks, we found that each subject’s gaze position oscillates slowly(less than 1Hz), and that this frequency matches that of bistable perceptual alternation. Notably, the motion of the eye apparently moves in opposite directions before two opposite perceptual decisions, and this enables the prediction of the timing and direction of perceptual alternation from eye motion. We also found that the correlation between eye movement and a perceptual decision is maintained during variations of the alternation frequency by the intentional switching or retaining of perceived states. This result suggests that periodic bistable perception is phase-locked with rhythmic eye motion.

Quantum-Inspired Neural Network Model of Optical Illusions

“…On the other hand, electroencephalograms recorded consistently with subjective inputs given by observers of the Necker cube and other ambiguous figures [25][26][27] suggest that the perception does not undergo an abrupt switching as sketched in Figure 1b but exhibits a rather continuous oscillation-like behaviour between the |0⟩ and |1⟩ states. Data speaking in favour of such a behaviour were also obtained in eye-tracking experiments, where both blink and movement of eye were associated with a perceptual reversal [6,28,29].…”

Bistable perception, precision and neuromodulation

“…For this, we cast bistable perception, the phenomenon where perception alternates between distinct interpretations of a static stimulus, as an enactive process associated with specific eye movements that shift the focus from one visual feature to another leading to a perceptual transition ( Einhäuser et al. 2004 ; Choi et al. 2020 ).…”

“…These fixation point locations are motivated by Einhäuser et al. (2004) and Choi et al. (2020) , who observed eye movements between these particular fixation points during perceptual switches.…”

“…This was to encourage the agent to sample bottom-left and top-right locations—as the eye movements between these locations have been shown to be associated with perceptual transitions in the Necker cube paradigm ( Einhäuser et al. 2004 ; Choi et al. 2020 ).…”

“…This provides a nice segue to introduce our generative model for simulating bistable perception of the Necker cube; a canonical paradigm in the bistable perception literature ( Kornmeier and Bach 2005 ; Wernery et al. 2015 ; Choi et al. 2020 ).…”