Occlusion-related lateral connections stabilize kinetic depth stimuli through perceptual coupling

Local sensory information is often ambiguous forcing the brain to integrate spatiotemporally separated information for stable conscious perception. Lateral connections between clusters of similarly tuned neurons in the visual cortex are a potential neural substrate for the coupling of spatially separated visual information. Ecological optics suggests that perceptual coupling of visual information is particularly beneficial in occlusion situations. Here we present a novel neural network model and a series of human psychophysical experiments that can together explain the perceptual coupling of kinetic depth stimuli with activity-driven lateral information sharing in the far depth plane. Our most striking finding is the perceptual coupling of an ambiguous kinetic depth cylinder with a coaxially presented and disparity defined cylinder backside, while a similar frontside fails to evoke coupling. Altogether, our findings are consistent with the idea that clusters of similarly tuned far depth neurons share spatially separated motion information in order to resolve local perceptual ambiguities. The classification of far depth in the facilitation mechanism results from a combination of absolute and relative depth that suggests a functional role of these lateral connections in the perception of partially occluded objects

Optic flow detection is not influenced by visual-vestibular congruency

Optic flow patterns generated by self-motion relative to the stationary environment result in congruent visual-vestibular self-motion signals. Incongruent signals can arise due to object motion, vestibular dysfunction, or artificial stimulation, which are less common. Hence, we are predominantly exposed to congruent rather than incongruent visual-vestibular stimulation. If the brain takes advantage of this probabilistic association, we expect observers to be more sensitive to visual optic flow that is congruent with ongoing vestibular stimulation. We tested this expectation by measuring the motion coherence threshold, which is the percentage of signal versus noise dots, necessary to detect an optic flow pattern. Observers seated on a hexapod motion platform in front of a screen experienced two sequential intervals. One interval contained optic flow with a given motion coherence and the other contained noise dots only. Observers had to indicate which interval contained the optic flow pattern. The motion coherence threshold was measured for detection of laminar and radial optic flow during leftward/rightward and fore/aft linear self-motion, respectively. We observed no dependence of coherence thresholds on vestibular congruency for either radial or laminar optic flow. Prior studies using similar methods reported both decreases and increases in coherence thresholds in response to congruent vestibular stimulation;our results do not confirm either of these prior reports. While methodological differences may explain the diversity of results, another possibility is that motion coherence thresholds are mediated by neural populations that are either not modulated by vestibular stimulation or that are modulated in a manner that does not depend on congruency

Motion_coherence_thresholds

For both experiments, the motion coherence threshold for each observer across conditions

Overview of stimulus parameters used in the current study and two prior studies reporting contradictory findings.

<p>Overview of stimulus parameters used in the current study and two prior studies reporting contradictory findings.</p

Average motion coherence threshold across observers for leftward/rightward optic flow.

<p>In the left panel, the average motion coherence threshold across observers (y-axis) is depicted for the incongruent, congruent and stationary condition (x-axis). The center panel shows the average motion coherence threshold across observers for each visual motion direction (leftward, rightward optic flow). The right panel depicts the average motion coherence threshold across observers for the incongruent, congruent and stationary condition separated per motion direction. In all panels, error bars indicate ± 1 SEM. An asterisk indicates a significant difference between conditions.</p

Average motion coherence threshold across observers for radial optic flow.

<p>In the left panel, the average motion coherence threshold across observers (y-axis) is depicted for the incongruent, congruent and stationary condition (x-axis). The center panel shows the average motion coherence threshold across observers for each visual motion direction (expanding, contracting optic flow). The right panel depicts the average motion coherence threshold across observers for the incongruent, congruent and stationary condition separated per motion direction. In all panels, error bars indicate ± 1 SEM. An asterisk indicates a significant difference between conditions.</p

Schematic overview of trials used in the experiments.

<p>Both panels (A, B) represent the time course (x-axis) of the platform position (y-axis) used in the experiments. In both experiments, each experimental trial comprises two intervals lasting from 0-1s and 1-2s after platform motion onset respectively. In each interval, visual motion is presented (gray areas) between 0.25–0.75s after the start of the interval. It is therefore presented around the peak velocity of the vestibular stimulation. A. In experiment 1, radial optic flow that is either congruent (Cong) or incongruent (Incong) with the platform motion direction (forward) is presented in one interval, while in the other noise dots are presented. B. In experiment 2, leftward or rightward optic flow that is either congruent or incongruent with the platform motion (leftward) is presented in one interval, while in the other interval noise dots are presented. In both experiments, the presentation order of optic flow and noise dots intervals was counterbalanced across trials.</p

Illusory Motion of the Motion Aftereffect Induces Postural Sway

It remains an open question, however, whether this perception-action cycle is the result of direct visual stimulation only, or whether postural adjustments also occur when the motion of the visual stimulus is illusory. Here, we show that the latter is the case. Prolonged viewing of visual motion results in neural adaptation, and subsequent viewing of a stationary stimulus normally results in illusory motion in the opposite direction, a famous phenomenon known as the motion aftereffect (MAE; Anstis, Verstraten, & Mather, 1998). Surprisingly, this sequence of stimulation also causes postural sway in the direction consistent with the perceived illusory motion. Control test patterns that do not generate an MAE after identical adaptation do not induce sway. This suggests that the visuo-vestibular interactions that govern postural control are not influenced by visual stimulation per se, but can be modulated by an illusory motion signal (e.g., the internal neural signal responsible for the MAE)

Grouping of optic flow stimuli during binocular rivalry is driven by monocular information

During binocular rivalry, perception alternates between two dissimilar images, presented dichoptically. Although binocular rivalry is thought to result from competition at a local level, neighboring image parts with similar features tend to be perceived together for longer durations than image parts with dissimilar features. This simultaneous dominance of two image parts is called grouping during rivalry. Previous studies have shown that this grouping depends on a shared eye-of-origin to a much larger extent than on image content, irrespective of the complexity of a static image. In the current study, we examine whether grouping of dynamic optic flow patterns is also primarily driven by monocular (eye-of-origin) information. In addition, we examine whether image parameters, such as optic flow direction, and partial versus full visibility of the optic flow pattern, affect grouping durations during rivalry. The results show that grouping of optic flow is, as is known for static images, primarily affected by its eye-of-origin. Furthermore, global motion can affect grouping durations, but only under specific conditions. Namely, only when the two full optic flow patterns were presented locally. These results suggest that grouping during rivalry is primarily driven by monocular information even for motion stimuli thought to rely on higher-level motion areas

Interaction effects of visual stimulus speed and contrast on postural sway

Manipulating the characteristics of visual stimuli that simulate self-motion through the environment can affect the resulting postural sway magnitude. In the present study, we address the question whether varying the contrast and speed of a linear translating dot pattern influences medial–lateral postural sway. In a first experiment, we investigated whether the postural sway magnitude increases with increasing dot speed, as was previously demonstrated for expanding and contracting stimuli. In a second experiment, we also manipulated the contrast of the stimuli. For reasons that high-contrast stimuli can be considered ‘perceptually’ stronger, we expect that higher-contrast stimuli induce more sway than lower-contrast stimuli. The results of the first experiment show that dot speed indeed influences postural sway, although in an unexpected way. For higher speeds, the sway is in the direction of the stimulus motion, yet for lower speeds the sway is in a direction opposite to the stimulus motion. The results of the second experiment show that dot contrast does affect postural sway, but that this depends on the speed of the moving dots. Interestingly, the direction of postural sway induced by a relatively low dot speed (4°/s) depends on dot contrast. Taken together, our results suggest that interactions between the visual, vestibular and proprioceptive system appear to be influenced by an internal representation of the visual stimulus, rather than being influenced by the external visual stimulus characteristics only