Domain-Specific Genetic Influence on Visual-Ambiguity Resolution

Abstract

The visual world is flooded with ambiguity. Generally, people can resolve the ambiguity almost instantaneously, as when they distinguish at a glance whether a maiden in a portrait by Picasso is in profile or facing front. However, perception of the same reality, though relatively stable at the individual level, can vary dramatically from person to person, manifesting idiosyncratic perceptual biases. What drives the heterogeneity of human vision as reflected in the resolution of visual ambiguity? Using the twin method, we demonstrated a significant genetic contribution to individual differences in the visual disambiguation of bistable biological-motion stimuli but not inanimate motion stimuli. These findings challenge the prevailing view that the way the human brain makes sense of visual input is largely shaped by a person’s perceptual history. Rather, the visual perception of biologically salient information can be guided by adaptive mental “priors” that are genetically transmitted.