ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF BINOCULAR RIVALRY

当两只眼睛看到不同的单眼图像时，稳定的视力就会中断 向下，一只或另一只眼睛交替地支配感知。这 这种现象被称为双目竞争(BR)，这是一个很好的例子 视觉系统如何限制其输入以获得有意义的信息 申述。BR与融合和立体视觉密切相关；事实上， 它证明了存在重要的潜在过程， 不断运营，树立统一愿景。此外， 这种现象背后的抑制性相互作用可能代表着 包括侧向抑制等现象的一般机制， 非经典环绕效应，或由以下因素引起的病理性抑制 弱视或非弱视斜视。 我们的目标是研究引发这一现象的神经相互作用 知觉改变及其在双眼融合和立体视觉中的作用 深度感知。尽管已经投入了大量的心理物理工作来 BR，拟议的研究将提供第一个系统的 这一现象的神经生理学检查。 实验将在经过训练的猴子身上进行，以报告他们的 在观看引发竞争的刺激时的感知。单项作业 将记录在纹状皮质中，以调查哪些细胞显示 BR过程中的响应调制。同时从两个单元格记录， 我们将确定哪些细胞可能表现出相互抑制。这个 将研究这类神经元的反应动力学，以确定 它们足以解释知觉的变化，或者如果 支配地位要么由一段时间内活跃的单位数量决定 时间的长短或射击率的相关程度。至 了解交叉抑制在正常情况下起作用的程度 双眼视觉，细胞对不同刺激的敏感性 属性将在融合、立体视觉和BR条件下进行测试。 视差调节神经元的活动也可能显示出反应 将研究BR期间的调制，以确定以下条件 细胞表现出振荡的调制。这些人的反应 细胞将用不同空间的立体刺激进行检查 频率和位置或方位差异。特别的 兴趣是视差调谐的细胞对随机点的反应 立体图叠加在竞争刺激上。 除了提供有关生理学的重要信息 对于双目视觉来说，这些实验将对 通过对一种现象的洞察来做出贡献，这种现象允许 感觉和意识、知觉加工之间的区别。

When the two eyes view dissimilar, monocular images, stable vision breaks down and one or the other eye dominates perception in alternation. This phenomenon is called binocular rivalry (BR), and it is a good example of how the visual system can constrain its input to obtain meaningful representations. BR is closely linked to fusion and stereopsis; in fact, it demonstrates the existence of important underlying processes that operate constantly to establish unified vision. Furthermore, the inhibitory interactions underlying this phenomenon may represent a general mechanism that encompasses phenomena such as lateral inhibition, nonclassical surround effects, or pathological suppression due to amblyopia or nonamblyopic strabismus. Our goal is to research the neural interactions that instigate this perceptual alteration and their role in binocular fusion and stereoscopic depth perception. Although much psychophysical work has been devoted to BR, the proposed research will provide the first systematic neurophysiological examination of this phenomenon. Experiments will be conducted on monkeys trained to report their perceptions while viewing rivalry-inducing stimuli. Single unit activity in the striate cortex will be recorded to investigate which cells show response modulations during BR. Recording from two cells simultaneously, we will determine which cells might show reciprocal inhibition. The response dynamics of such neurons will be studied to establish whether they are sufficient to explain the perceptual alternations or if dominance is determined either by the number of units active for a period of time or by the degree of correlation in their firing rate. To understand the extent to which cross-inhibition operates during normal binocular vision, the sensitivity of the cells for different stimulus attributes will be tested under fusion, stereopsis, and BR conditions. The activity of disparity-tuned neurons that may also show response modulation during BR will be studied to determine the conditions under which the cells exhibit oscillatory modulations. The responses of such cells will be examined with stereoscopic stimuli of different spatial frequencies and positional or orientational disparities. Of particular interest is the response of disparity-tuned cells to random dot stereograms superimposed on rivalrous stimuli. In addition to providing important information regarding the physiology of binocular vision, these experiments will make a significant contribution by giving insights to a phenomenon that allows clear discrimination between sensory and conscious, perceptual processing.