Abstract
AbstractPrediction may be a fundamental principle of sensory processing, such that the brain continuously generates predictions about forthcoming sensory information. However, little is known about how prediction contributes to the selection of a conscious percept from among competing alternatives. Here, we used binocular rivalry to investigate the effects of prediction on perceptual selection. In binocular rivalry, incompatible images presented to the two eyes result in a perceptual alternation between the images, even though the visual stimuli remain constant. If predictive signals influence the competition between neural representations of rivalrous images, this influence should generate a bias in perceptual selection that depends on predictive context. To manipulate predictive context, we developed a novel binocular rivalry paradigm in which orthogonal rivalrous test gratings were immediately preceded by rotating gratings presented identically to the two eyes. One of the rivalrous gratings had an orientation that was consistent with the preceding rotation direction (it was the expected next image in the series), and the other had an inconsistent orientation. We found that human observers were more likely to perceive the consistent grating, suggesting that predictive context biased selection in favor of the predicted percept. This prediction effect depended on only recent stimulus history, and it could be dissociated from another stimulus history effect related to orientation-specific adaptation. Since binocular rivalry between orthogonal gratings is thought to be resolved at an early stage of visual processing, these results suggest that predictive signals may exist at low levels of the visual processing hierarchy and that these signals can bias conscious perception. In the future, this paradigm could be used to test whether visual percepts are generated from the combination of prior information and incoming sensory information according to Bayesian principles.
Highlights
We test for e ects of predictive signals on perceptual selection using binocular rivalry
Predictive context can in uence perceptual selection during binocular rivalry, with above-chance selection of predicted stimuli
Low stream contrasts allow the prediction e ect to be measured in the presence of minimal adaptation
Summary
Prior information can in uence sensory processing and decision making [1,2] Based on prior information, the brain is thought to generate predictions of forthcoming sensory information [3,4]. We test for e ects of predictive signals on perceptual selection using binocular rivalry. Since binocular rivalry between orthogonal orientations is thought to be resolved at early stages of visual processing, this approach probes predictive signals at low levels of the visual system. Posterior Likelihood Prior An optimal way of combining prior information (here, predictions) with current information (here, sensory evidence) In this framework, the percept is the hypothesis with the highest posterior probability [5]
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