Competing Theories of Binocular Rivalry: A Possible Resolution

Abstract:

The neural basis of binocular rivalry has been the subject of vigorous debate. Do discrepant monocular patterns rival for awareness because of neural competition among pattern representations or monocular channels? In this article, I briefly review psychophysical and neurophysiological evidence pertaining to both theories and discuss important new neuroimaging data which reveal that rivalry is fully resolved in monocular visual cortex. These new findings strongly suggest that interocular competition mediates binocular rivalry and that V1 plays an important role in the selection of conscious visual information. They further suggest that rivalry is not a unitary phenomenon. Interocular competition may fully account for binocular rivalry whereas a separate mechanism involving pattern competition likely accounts for monocular and stimulus rivalry.

Keywords: binocular rivalry; human; magnetic resonance imaging; visual perception; visual cortex

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychology, Green Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (Phone: 609-258-2652; Fax: 609-258-1113;E-mail: ftong@princeton.edu)