Interocular Grouping in Perceptual Rivalry Localized with fMRI.

Bistable perception refers to a broad class of dynamically alternating visual illusions that result from ambiguous images. These illusions provide a powerful method to study the mechanisms that determine how visual input is integrated over space and time. Binocular rivalry occurs when subjects view different images in each eye, and a similar experience called stimulus rivalry occurs even when the left and right images are exchanged at a fast rate.

Comparison of stimulus rivalry to binocular rivalry with functional magnetic resonance imaging.

When incompatible images are presented to each eye, a phenomenon known as binocular rivalry occurs in which the viewer's conscious visual perception alternates between the two images. In stimulus rivalry, similar perceptual alternations between rival images can occur even in the midst of fast image swapping between the eyes. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to directly compare brain activity underlying the two types of perceptual rivalry.