ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF BINOCULAR RIVALRY

当两只眼睛看到不同的单目图像时，稳定的视觉就会被打破。 向下，一只或另一只眼睛交替地支配感知。 这 这种现象被称为双眼竞争（BR），它是一个很好的例子， 视觉系统如何限制其输入， 表示。 BR与融合和立体视觉密切相关;事实上， 它表明存在着重要的基本过程， 不断经营，建立统一的愿景。 而且 这种现象背后的抑制性相互作用可能代表了 包括诸如侧抑制的现象的一般机制， 非经典的环绕效应，或病理性抑制，由于 弱视或非弱视性斜视。 我们的目标是研究引发这种情况的神经相互作用 知觉改变及其在双眼融合和立体视觉中的作用 深度知觉 尽管许多心理物理学的工作都致力于 BR，拟议的研究将提供第一个系统的 神经生理学检查这种现象。 实验将在猴子身上进行，猴子被训练报告他们的 在观看引起竞争的刺激时的感知。 单单位活动 将记录纹状体皮质中的细胞，以研究哪些细胞显示 BR期间的响应调制。 两个细胞同时记录， 我们将确定哪些细胞可能表现出相互抑制。 的 这些神经元的反应动力学将被研究，以确定是否 它们足以解释知觉的变化，或者 支配地位取决于一段时间内活跃的单位数量 时间或它们的发射率的相关程度。 到 了解在正常情况下交叉抑制的程度 双眼视觉，细胞对不同刺激的敏感性 将在融合、立体视觉和BR条件下测试属性。 活动的灵活性调整的神经元，也可能表现出反应 将研究BR期间的调制，以确定 这些细胞表现出振荡调制。 这些人的反应 将用不同空间的立体刺激检查细胞 频率和位置或方向差异。 特别 感兴趣的是对随机点的响应， 叠加在竞争刺激上的立体图。 除了提供有关生理学的重要信息外， 这些实验将对我们的双眼视觉 通过对一种现象的深入了解， 感觉和意识之间的区别，知觉处理。

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.