fMRI-based decoding of reward effects in binocular rivalry

Wilbertz, Gregor; Kemenade, Bianca M. van; Schmack, Katharina; Sterzer, Philipp

doi:10.1093/nc/nix013

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In Chopin and Mamassian’s study, observers were unaware of the task relevance of the stimulus and nonetheless a profound effect on its dominance was found. Taken together with the results of Wilbertz et al. (2017), this indicates that task-relevance effects are unlikely to be mediated by the implicit reward of better task performance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…This is most evident in the case of reward, where stimuli that are associated with positive outcome (reward) are enhanced in dominance and those associated with negative outcome (punishment) are reduced in dominance (Marx & Einhäuser, 2015; Wilbertz et al., 2014). Interestingly, such reward effects have not been found when observers were unaware of the stimulus-reward contingency (Wilbertz et al., 2017), which suggests that a (meta-cognitive) awareness of a stimulus-outcome association is critical for reward-based effects on multistable perception. In this respect, the effects of perceptual difficulty, which already occur—albeit weaker—when no task is to be conducted with the stimuli, may be conceptually distinct from effects of motivational value.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceptual Difficulty Persistently Increases Dominance in Binocular Rivalry—Even Without a Task

2021

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A major objective of perception is the reduction of uncertainty about the outside world. Eye-movement research has demonstrated that attention and oculomotor control can subserve the function of decreasing uncertainty in vision. Here, we ask whether a similar effect exists for awareness in binocular rivalry, when two distinct stimuli presented to the two eyes compete for awareness. We tested whether this competition can be biased by uncertainty about the stimuli and their relevance for a perceptual task. Specifically, we have stimuli that are perceptually difficult (i.e., carry high perceptual uncertainty) compete with stimuli that are perceptually easy (low perceptual uncertainty). Using a no-report paradigm and reading the dominant stimulus continuously from the observers’ eye movements, we find that the perceptually difficult stimulus becomes more dominant than the easy stimulus. This difference is enhanced by the stimuli’s relevance for the task. In trials with task, the difference in dominance emerges quickly, peaks before the response, and then persists throughout the trial (further 10 s). However, the difference is already present in blocks before task instruction and still observable when the stimuli have ceased to be task relevant. This shows that perceptual uncertainty persistently increases perceptual dominance, and this is magnified by task relevance.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptual Difficulty Persistently Increases Dominance in Binocular Rivalry—Even Without a Task

2021

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“…Multivariate techniques such as representational similarity analysis have provided insight into the fine spatial patterns representing stimulus information in the brain ( Haxby et al, 2001 ; Kriegeskorte et al, 2008 ). Here, we applied a different form of multivariate analysis, classification in the temporal domain, to reveal individualized percept-specific patterns in neural activity (see also Reichert et al, 2014 ; Wilbertz et al, 2017 for classification of bistable visual perception).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Decoding of Bistable Sounds Reveals an Effect of Intention on Perceptual Organization

2018

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Auditory signals arrive at the ear as a mixture that the brain must decompose into distinct sources based to a large extent on acoustic properties of the sounds. An important question concerns whether listeners have voluntary control over how many sources they perceive. This has been studied using pure high (H) and low (L) tones presented in the repeating pattern HLH-HLH-, which can form a bistable percept heard either as an integrated whole (HLH-) or as segregated into high (H-H-) and low (-L-) sequences. Although instructing listeners to try to integrate or segregate sounds affects reports of what they hear, this could reflect a response bias rather than a perceptual effect. We had human listeners (15 males, 12 females) continuously report their perception of such sequences and recorded neural activity using MEG. During neutral listening, a classifier trained on patterns of neural activity distinguished between periods of integrated and segregated perception. In other conditions, participants tried to influence their perception by allocating attention either to the whole sequence or to a subset of the sounds. They reported hearing the desired percept for a greater proportion of time than when listening neutrally. Critically, neural activity supported these reports; stimulus-locked brain responses in auditory cortex were more likely to resemble the signature of segregation when participants tried to hear segregation than when attempting to perceive integration. These results indicate that listeners can influence how many sound sources they perceive, as reflected in neural responses that track both the input and its perceptual organization.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Can we consciously influence our perception of the external world? We address this question using sound sequences that can be heard either as coming from a single source or as two distinct auditory streams. Listeners reported spontaneous changes in their perception between these two interpretations while we recorded neural activity to identify signatures of such integration and segregation. They also indicated that they could, to some extent, choose between these alternatives. This claim was supported by corresponding changes in responses in auditory cortex. By linking neural and behavioral correlates of perception, we demonstrate that the number of objects that we perceive can depend not only on the physical attributes of our environment, but also on how we intend to experience it.

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“…In a second experiment that utilized the same design but a financial loss of 10 Cent instead of gain, an increase in dominance durations for the non-punished percept relative to the punished percept was found. Interestingly, in a subsequent study that combined a similar button press task with functional magnetic resonance imaging of neural rivalry correlates as an objective online measure of perception, Wilbertz et al (2017) were unable to confirm this finding. Marx and Einhäuser (2015) found that rewarding a percept led to a similar increase in dominance as attending it, but at a constant level of attention reward still modulated dominance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Uncertain reward cues show increased dominance in early phases of binocular rivalry

Pothast¹,

Koenig²,

Lachnit³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Binocular rivalry occurs when the eyes are presented with two dissimilar images and visual awareness fluctuates between them. Previous findings suggest that perceptual dominance of a rewarded stimulus may increase relative to an unrewarded stimulus, implying a direct effect of reward on visual representations. Here, we asked how uncertainty about reward occurrence and average reward expectancy affect dominance in binocular rivalry. In three experiments, participants learnt to associate drifting gratings of distinct colors with different levels of uncertainty and expectancy. Uncertainty was manipulated by rewarding each correct trial either with 100% probability (no uncertainty) or with 50% probability (high uncertainty). The amount of reward was either identical per rewarded trial, yielding a lower expectancy in uncertain trials (Experiments 1 and 2), or reward expectancy was matched across uncertainty levels by doubling the award per rewarded trial for uncertain trials (Experiment 3). In Experiment 2, an additional low-reward condition with no uncertainty was included. Using a no-report paradigm, we measured the perceptual dominance of these gratings relative to a grating that was unassociated with reward, before and after associations had been acquired. When the rewarded stimulus feature (color) was task relevant, dominance durations increased for all rewarded gratings after acquisition. In an early phase after rivalry onset we found increased perceptual dominance for cues associated with uncertain reward compared to cues associated with certain reward. This confirms an effect of reward on perceptual dominance, and suggests that reward uncertainty associated with a stimulus has a direct bearing on its visual representation.

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fMRI-based decoding of reward effects in binocular rivalry

Cited by 11 publications

References 42 publications

Perceptual Difficulty Persistently Increases Dominance in Binocular Rivalry—Even Without a Task

Perceptual Difficulty Persistently Increases Dominance in Binocular Rivalry—Even Without a Task

Neural Decoding of Bistable Sounds Reveals an Effect of Intention on Perceptual Organization

Uncertain reward cues show increased dominance in early phases of binocular rivalry

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