Dataset Information

Filling-in rivalry: Perceptual alternations in the absence of retinal image conflict.

ABSTRACT: During perceptual rivalry, an observer's perceptual experience alternates over time despite constant sensory stimulation. Perceptual alternations are thought to be driven by conflicting or ambiguous retinal image features at a particular spatial location and modulated by global context from surrounding locations. However, rivalry can also occur between two illusory stimuli-such as two filled-in stimuli within the retinal blind spot. In this "filling-in rivalry," what observers perceive in the blind spot changes in the absence of local stimulation. It remains unclear if filling-in rivalry shares common mechanisms with other types of rivalry. We measured the dynamics of rivalry between filled-in percepts in the blind spot, finding a high degree of exclusivity (perceptual dominance of one filled-in percept, rather than a perception of transparency), alternation rates that were highly consistent for individual observers, and dynamics that closely resembled other forms of perceptual rivalry. The results suggest that mechanisms common to a wide range of rivalry situations need not rely on conflicting retinal image signals.

SUBMITTER: Chen Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5256469 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Filling-in rivalry: Perceptual alternations in the absence of retinal image conflict.

Chen Zhimin Z Maus Gerrit W GW Whitney David D Denison Rachel N RN

Journal of vision 20170101 1

During perceptual rivalry, an observer's perceptual experience alternates over time despite constant sensory stimulation. Perceptual alternations are thought to be driven by conflicting or ambiguous retinal image features at a particular spatial location and modulated by global context from surrounding locations. However, rivalry can also occur between two illusory stimuli-such as two filled-in stimuli within the retinal blind spot. In this "filling-in rivalry," what observers perceive in the bl ...[more]

PMID: 28114480

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Project description:Binocular rivalry is a classic experimental tool to probe the neural machinery of perceptual awareness. During rivalry, perception alternates between the two eyes, and the ebb and flow of perception is modeled to rely on the strength of inhibitory interactions between competitive neuronal populations in visual cortex. As a result, rivalry has been suggested as a noninvasive perceptual marker of inhibitory signaling in visual cortex, and its putative disturbance in psychiatric conditions, including autism. Yet, direct evidence causally implicating inhibitory signaling in the dynamics of binocular rivalry is currently lacking. We previously found that people with higher GABA levels in visual cortex, measured using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, have stronger perceptual suppression during rivalry. Here, we present direct causal tests of the impact of GABAergic inhibition on rivalry dynamics, and the contribution of specific GABA receptors to these dynamics. In a crossover pharmacological design with male and female adult participants, we found that drugs that modulate the two dominant GABA receptor types in the brain, GABAA (clobazam) and GABAB (arbaclofen), increase perceptual suppression during rivalry relative to a placebo. Crucially, these results could not be explained by changes in reaction times or response criteria, as determined through rivalry simulation trials, suggesting a direct and specific influence of GABA on perceptual suppression. A full replication study of the GABAB modulator reinforces these findings. These results provide causal evidence for a link between the strength of inhibition in the brain and perceptual suppression during rivalry and have implications for psychiatric conditions including autism.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How does the brain accomplish perceptual gating? Here we use a direct and causal pharmacological manipulation to present insight into the neural machinery of a classic illusion of perceptual awareness: binocular rivalry. We show that drugs that increase GABAergic inhibition in the brain, clobazam (GABAA modulator) and arbaclofen (GABAB modulator), increase perceptual suppression during rivalry relative to a placebo. These results present the first causal link between GABAergic inhibition and binocular rivalry in humans, complementing classic models of binocular rivalry, and have implications for our understanding of psychiatric conditions, such as autism, where binocular rivalry is posited as a behavioral marker of disruptions in inhibitory signaling in the brain.

Project description:Visual cognition in humans has traditionally been studied with cognitive behavioral methods and brain imaging, but much less with genetic methods. Perceptual rivalry, an important phenomenon in visual cognition, is the spontaneous perceptual alternation that occurs between two distinct interpretations of a physically constant visual stimulus (e.g., binocular rivalry stimuli) or a perceptually ambiguous stimulus (e.g., the Necker cube). The switching rate varies dramatically across individuals and can be voluntarily modulated by observers. Here, we adopted a genomic approach to systematically investigate the genetics underlying binocular rivalry, Necker cube rivalry and voluntary modulation of Necker cube rivalry in young Chinese adults (Homo sapiens, 81% female, 20 ± 1 years old) at multiple levels, including common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability estimation, SNP-based genome-wide association study (GWAS), gene-based analysis, and pathway analysis. We performed a pilot GWAS in 2441 individuals and replicated it in an independent cohort of 943 individuals. Common SNP-based heritability was estimated to be 25% for spontaneous perceptual rivalry. SNPs rs184765639 and rs75595941 were associated with voluntary modulation, and imaging data suggested genotypic difference of rs184765639 in the surface area of the left caudal-middle frontal cortex. Additionally, converging evidence from multilevel analyses associated genes such as PRMT1 with perceptual switching rate, and MIR1178 with voluntary modulation strength. In summary, this study discovered specific genetic contributions to perceptual rivalry and its voluntary modulation in human beings. These findings may promote our understanding of psychiatric disorders, as perceptual rivalry is a potential psychiatric biomarker.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Perceptual rivalry is an important visual phenomenon in which our perception of a physically constant visual input spontaneously switches between two different states. There are individual variations in perceptual switching rate and voluntary modulation strength. Our genomic analyses reveal several loci associated with these two kinds of variation. Because perceptual rivalry is thought to be relevant to and potentially an endophenotype for psychiatric disorders, these results may help understand not only visual cognition, but also psychiatric disorders.

Dataset Information

Filling-in rivalry: Perceptual alternations in the absence of retinal image conflict.

Publications

Filling-in rivalry: Perceptual alternations in the absence of retinal image conflict.

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