TY - GEN
T1 - Theory and dynamics of perceptual Bistability
AU - Schrater, Paul R.
AU - Sundareswara, Rashmi
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Perceptual Bistability refers to the phenomenon of spontaneously switching between two or more interpretations of an image under continuous viewing. Although switching behavior is increasingly well characterized, the origins remain elusive. We propose that perceptual switching naturally arises from the brain's search for best interpretations while performing Bayesian inference. In particular, we propose that the brain explores a posterior distribution over image interpretations at a rapid time scale via a sampling-like process and updates its interpretation when a sampled interpretation is better than the discounted value of its current interpretation. We formalize the theory, explicitly derive switching rate distributions and discuss qualitative properties of the theory including the effect of changes in the posterior distribution on switching rates. Finally, predictions of the theory are shown to be consistent with measured changes in human switching dynamics to Necker cube stimuli induced by context.
AB - Perceptual Bistability refers to the phenomenon of spontaneously switching between two or more interpretations of an image under continuous viewing. Although switching behavior is increasingly well characterized, the origins remain elusive. We propose that perceptual switching naturally arises from the brain's search for best interpretations while performing Bayesian inference. In particular, we propose that the brain explores a posterior distribution over image interpretations at a rapid time scale via a sampling-like process and updates its interpretation when a sampled interpretation is better than the discounted value of its current interpretation. We formalize the theory, explicitly derive switching rate distributions and discuss qualitative properties of the theory including the effect of changes in the posterior distribution on switching rates. Finally, predictions of the theory are shown to be consistent with measured changes in human switching dynamics to Necker cube stimuli induced by context.
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:79959832377
SN - 9780262195683
T3 - Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems
SP - 1217
EP - 1224
BT - Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 19 - Proceedings of the 2006 Conference
T2 - 20th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, NIPS 2006
Y2 - 4 December 2006 through 7 December 2006
ER -