Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T05:13:46.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A physiological model of binocular rivalry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

T. J. Mueller
T. J. Mueller
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents a modified reciprocal inhibition model for the temporal dynamics of binocular rivalry. The model is based on neurophysiological mechanisms and is derived from human psychophysical data. A simple reciprocal inhibition oscillator may be described with a set of four coupled differential equations with a neurophysiological interpretation. However, such a circuit does not account for some aspects of the temporal behavior of binocular rivalry, including the effects of contrast change on alternation rate and on the magnitudes of changes in duration of the suppressed and dominant phases. To better account for these phenomena, the equations and their simulation are modified to include three new components: (1) presynaptic inhibition of the reciprocal inhibition by the input, (2) the motor delays that occur when a human observer tracks rivalry and (3) a minimum threshold for each neuron's state variable. The result is a much improved fit to psychophysically-obtained data on the temporal behavior of binocular rivalry. Finally, the model is incorporated into a larger model to suggest how rivalry might occur in a network that usually exhibits binocular fusion.

Keywords

Binocular rivalryNetworkModelVisual cortexReciprocal inhibition
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 63 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abadi, R.V. (1976). Induction masking–a study of some inhibitory interactions during dichoptic viewing. Vision Research 16, 269–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bishop, P.O. (1973). Neurophysiology of binocular single vision and stereopsis. In Handbook of Sensory Physiology, Vol. 7, ed. Jung, R., pp. 255–305. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Blake, R. (1977). Threshold conditions for binocular rivalry. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 3, 251–257.Google ScholarPubMed
Blake, R. (1989). A neural theory of binocular rivalry. Psychological Review 96(1), 145–167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blake, R. & Boothroyd, K. (1985). The precedence of binocular fusion over binocular rivalry. Perception and Psychophysics 37(2), 114–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blake, R. & Fox, R. (1974). Binocular rivalry suppression: insensitive to spatial frequency and orientation change. Vision Research 14, 687–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blake, R., Martins, W. & Di, Gianfilippo A. (1980 a). Reaction time as a measure of binocular interaction in human vision. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 19(8), 930–941.Google ScholarPubMed
Blake, R. & Overton, R. (1979). The site of binocular rivalry supression. Perception 8, 143–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, R., Westendorf, D. & Overton, R. (1980 b). What is suppressed during binocular rivalry? Perception 9, 223–231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borland International, Inc. (1987). Turbo Pascal Numerical Methods Toolbox, Version 4.0. California: Scotts Valley.Google Scholar
Cogan, A.I. (1987). Human binocular interaction: towards a neural model. Vision Research 27, 2125–2139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dealy, R.S. & Tolhurst, D.J. (1974). Is spatial adaptation an aftereffect of prolonged inhibition? Journal of Physiology 241, 261–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, R. & Check, R. (1968). Detection of motion during binocular rivalry suppression. Journal of Experimental Psychology 78, 388–395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, R. & Rasche, F. (1969). Binocular rivalry and reciprocal inhibition. Perception and Psychophysics 5, 215–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossberg, S. (1987). Cortical dynamics of three-dimensional form, color, and brightness perception; II: Binocular theory. Perception and Psychophysics 41, 117–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Julesz, B. & Miller, J.E. (1975). Independent spatial-frequency-tuned channels in binocular fusion and rivalry. Perception 4, 125–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kandel, E.R. & Schwartz, J.H. (1985). Principles of Neural Science. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Kaufman, L. (1964). Suppression and fusion in viewing complex stereo-grams. American Journal of Psychology 77, 193–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehky, S.R. (1988). An astable multivibrator model of binocular rivalry. Perception 17, 215–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levelt, W.J.M. (1965). On Binocular Rivalry. Institute for Perception RVO-TNO, Soesterberg, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Logothetis, N.K. & Schall, J.D. (1989). Neuronal correlates of subjective visual perception. Science 245, 761–763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matsuoka, K. (1984). The dynamic model of binocular rivalry. Biological Cybernetics 49, 201–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDougall, W. (1906). The physiological factors of the attention process, IV. Mind 15, 329–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mueller, T.J. & Blake, R. (1989). A fresh look at the temporal dynamics of binocular rivalry. Biological Cybernetics 61, 223–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Shea, R. (1983). Spatial and temporal determinants of binocular contour rivalry. Unpublished dissertation, University of Queensland.Google Scholar
Rodieck, R.W. & Dreher, B. (1979). Visual suppression from nondominant eye in the lateral geniculate nucleus: a comparison of cat and monkey. Experimental Brain Research 35, 465–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sloane, M.E. (1985). Binocular rivalry: a psychophysics in search of a physiology. In Models of the Visual Cortex, ed. Rose, D. & Dobson, V.G., pp. 211–222. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Sperling, G. (1970). Binocular vision: a physical and neural theory. American Journal of Psychology 83, 461–534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugie, N. (1982). Neural models of brightness perception and retinal rivalry in binocular vision. Biological Cybernetics 43, 13–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varela, F.J. & Singer, W. (1987). Neuronal dynamics in the visual corticothalamic pathway revealed through binocular rivalry. Experimental Brain Research 66, 10–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wade, N.J. (1978). Why do pattern afterimages fluctuate in visibility? Psychological Bulletin 85, 338–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westendorf, D.H. (1989). Binocular rivalry and dichoptic masking: suppressed stimuli do not mask stimuli in a dominating eye. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 15, 485–492.Google ScholarPubMed
Wolfe, J.M. (1986). Stereopsis and binocular rivalry. Psychological Review 93, 269–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed