Abstract
WHEN different images are presented to the two eyes, they compete for perceptual dominance, such that one image is visible while the other is suppressed. This binocular rivalry is thought to reflect competition between monocular neurons within the primary visual cortex1. However, neurons whose activity correlates with perception during rivalry are found mainly in higher cortical areas, and respond to input from both eyes2,3. Thus rivalry may involve competition between alternative perceptual interpretations at a higher level of analysis. To investigate this, we tested the effect of rapidly alternating the rival stimuli between the two eyes. Under these conditions, the perceptual alternations exhibit the same temporal dynamics as with static patterns, and a single phase of perceptual dominance can span multiple alternations of the stimuli. Thus neural representations of the two stimuli compete for visual awareness independently of the eye through which they reach the higher visual areas. This finding places binocular rivalry in the general category of multi stable phenomena, such as ambiguous figures, and provides a new way to study the neural cause and resolution of perceptual ambiguities.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blake, R. Psychol. Rev. 96, 145–167 (1989).
Logothetis, N. & Schall, J. Science 245, 761–763 (1989).
Leopold, D. & Logothetis, N. Nature 379, 549–553 (1996).
Wales, R. & Fox, R. Percept. Psychophys. 8, 90–94 (1970).
Fox, R. & Check, R. J. exp. Psychol. 93, 283–289 (1972).
Blake, R. & Fox, R. Vision Res. 14, 687–692 (1974).
Blake, R. & Camisa, J. J. exp. Psychol. hum. Percept. Perform. 5, 315–323 (1979).
Blake, R., Westendorf, D. & Overton, R. Perception 9, 223–231 (1980).
Crain, K. J. gen. Psychol. 64, 259–283 (1961).
Triesman, A. Q. J. exp. Psychol. 14, 23–37 (1962).
Whittle, P., Bloor, D. & Pocock, S. Percept. Psychophys. 4, 183–188 (1968).
Kulikowski, J. Ophthalmic physiol. Opt. 12, 168–170 (1992).
Wolfe, J. Perception 12, 447–456 (1983).
Fox, R. & Herrmann, J. Percept. Psychophys. 2, 432–436 (1967).
Fox, R. & Rasche, F. Percept. Psychophys. 5, 215–217 (1969).
Walker, P. Percept. Psychophys. 18, 467–473 (1975).
Lathrop, R. J. exp. Psychol. 72, 120–124 (1966).
Levelt, W. On Binocular Rivalry (Royal VanGorcum, Assen, The Netherlands, 1965).
Levelt, W. Br. J. Psychol. 57, 225–238 (1966).
Poggio, G. & Fisher, B. J. Neurophysiol. 40, 1392–1405 (1977).
Campbell, F. & Howell, E. J. Physiol, Lond. 225, 19P–21P (1972).
Borsellino, A., De Marco, A., Allazetta, A., Rinesi, S. & Bartolini, B. Kybernetik 10, 139–144 (1972).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Logothetis, N., Leopold, D. & Sheinberg, D. What is rivalling during binocular rivalry?. Nature 380, 621–624 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/380621a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/380621a0
This article is cited by
-
Research on stereoscopic visual masking in binocular combination and unconscious rivalry
Multimedia Tools and Applications (2023)
-
Tactile information affects alternating visual percepts during binocular rivalry using naturalistic objects
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2022)
-
Stimulus dependence of interocular suppression
Scientific Reports (2021)
-
Interocular Grouping in Perceptual Rivalry Localized with fMRI
Brain Topography (2021)
-
Dynamical mechanisms of a monolayer binocular rivalry model with fixed and time-dependent stimuli
Nonlinear Dynamics (2021)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.