Neuroimaging studies of human binocular vision and stimulus selection

正常的视觉需要结合两只眼睛的信息。在来自两只眼睛的信息与空间中的单个对象兼容的大多数情况下，可以提取深度信息。在来自两只眼睛的信息不兼容的情况下，会产生一种竞争的感觉。要全面了解大脑功能，尤其是双目视觉，了解潜在的深度和竞争过程之间的关系至关重要。我们的长期目标是提供一种双眼组合的知觉和生理描述，与我们对视觉系统的整体理解相结合。这项应用的目的是更好地描述人脑中构成双眼深度和竞争感知的网络组织，包括与单眼竞争和双眼掩蔽的比较。我们认为，通过将这些视觉功能的表现与大脑活动的高分辨率神经成像相关联，我们可以评估相互竞争的双目视觉理论，并将我们的发现与当前对知觉知觉的理解联系起来。这项工作将通过新的分析技术来加强，如功能连接的网络建模。除了功能磁共振成像(FMRI)，我们还开始整合脑磁图(MEG)。我们还建议利用正常视觉大脑中存在的强大的个体差异，特别是在双眼视觉和知觉竞争方面的行为差异。这些差异的直接关联可以应用于有效地解决假定的神经机制，甚至比过去更精细。最后，将我们的竞争模型提升到单一受试者的水平，最终将更有可能转换为患有异常双眼视觉的受试者，并进一步增加我们的影响。

Normal vision requires the combination of information from the two eyes. In most situations where the information from the two eyes is compatible with a single object in space, depth information can be extracted. In circumstances where the information from the two eyes is incompatible, a sensation of rivalry results. To fully understand brain function in general, and binocular vision in particular, it is crucial to know the relationship between the processes underlying depth and rivalry. Our long-term goal is to provide a perceptual and physiological account of binocular combination that integrates with our understanding of the visual system as whole. The objective of this application is to better characterize the network organization in the human brain that underlies the perception of binocular depth and rivalry, including comparison with monocular rivalry and dichoptic masking. We propose that by correlating performance of these visual functions with high-resolution neuroimaging of brain activity we can evaluate competing theories of binocular vision, and relate our findings to current understanding of perceptual awareness.This work will be enhanced by new analysis techniques such as network modeling of functional connectivity. In addition to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we have also begun to incorporate magnetoencephalography (MEG). We also propose to take advantage of the robust individual differences known to exist in the normal visual brain, and behaviorally in binocular vision and perceptual rivalry in particular. Direct correlation of these differences can be applied to effectively address the putative neural mechanisms even more finely than in the past. Finally, advancing our models of rivalry to the level of single subjects makes the eventual translation to subjects with abnormal binocular vision far more likely, and increases our impact even further.