Abstract
Predicting visual information facilitates efficient processing of visual signals. Higher visual areas can support the processing of incoming visual information by generating predictive models that are fed back to lower visual areas. Functional brain imaging has previously shown that predictions interact with visual input already at the level of the primary visual cortex (V1; Harrison et al., 2007; Alink et al., 2010). Given that fixation changes up to four times a second in natural viewing conditions, cortical predictions are effective in V1 only if they are fed back in time for the processing of the next stimulus and at the corresponding new retinotopic position. Here, we tested whether spatio-temporal predictions are updated before, during, or shortly after an inter-hemifield saccade is executed, and thus, whether the predictive signal is transferred swiftly across hemifields. Using an apparent motion illusion, we induced an internal motion model that is known to produce a spatio-temporal prediction signal along the apparent motion trace in V1 (Muckli et al., 2005; Alink et al., 2010). We presented participants with both visually predictable and unpredictable targets on the apparent motion trace. During the task, participants saccaded across the illusion whilst detecting the target. As found previously, predictable stimuli were detected more frequently than unpredictable stimuli. Furthermore, we found that the detection advantage of predictable targets is detectable as early as 50–100 ms after saccade offset. This result demonstrates the rapid nature of the transfer of a spatio-temporally precise predictive signal across hemifields, in a paradigm previously shown to modulate V1.
Highlights
Comparing incoming sensory stimulation with previously generated predictions is an efficient strategy for processing the wealth of visual information
We presented participants with both visually predictable and unpredictable targets on the apparent motion trace
This study aims to demonstrate whether a predictive signal is transferred across hemifields and, more precisely, how quickly after www.frontiersin.org
Summary
Comparing incoming sensory stimulation with previously generated predictions is an efficient strategy for processing the wealth of visual information. When we saccade our eyes, the visual world remains stable (Descartes, 1642–1648; von Helmholtz, 1962) This was the first evidence that internal models do not anticipate the mechanically induced change of the visual stimulus but are updated in anticipation of voluntary eye movements. In hierarchical models of cortical processing, it is conceptualized that higher cortical areas incorporate planned motor signals and provide spatio-temporal predictions for lower level visual areas. Lower visual areas can use these top-down predictive signals to anticipate expected change and process visual information more rapidly and efficiently (Merriam and Colby, 2005; Bar, 2007; Gilbert and Sigman, 2007; Harrison et al, 2007; Kveraga et al, 2007; Friston, 2009; Alink et al, 2010). Predictions developed from previous experience can allow an individual to correctly represent the entire shape of an object when it is partially occluded (van Lier et al, 1994; Sugita, 1999; Erlhagen, 2003; Johnson and Olshausen, 2005)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.