Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

Binocular Rivalry: Frontal Activity Relates to Introspection and Action But Not to Perception

Stefan Frässle, Jens Sommer, Andreas Jansen, Marnix Naber and Wolfgang Einhäuser
Journal of Neuroscience 29 January 2014, 34 (5) 1738-1747; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4403-13.2014
Stefan Frässle
1Department of Neurophysics, Philipps-University, 35032 Marburg, Germany;
2Section BrainImaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University, 35037 Marburg, Germany;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jens Sommer
2Section BrainImaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University, 35037 Marburg, Germany;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Andreas Jansen
2Section BrainImaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University, 35037 Marburg, Germany;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Marnix Naber
1Department of Neurophysics, Philipps-University, 35032 Marburg, Germany;
3Vision Sciences Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138;
4Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden University, 2333AK Leiden, The Netherlands;
5Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, 2300RC Leiden, The Netherlands and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Wolfgang Einhäuser
1Department of Neurophysics, Philipps-University, 35032 Marburg, Germany;
6Center for Interdisciplinary Research, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

When two dissimilar stimuli are presented to the eyes, perception alternates between multiple interpretations, a phenomenon dubbed binocular rivalry. Numerous recent imaging studies have attempted to unveil neural substrates underlying multistable perception. However, these studies had a conceptual constraint: access to observers' perceptual state relied on their introspection and active report. Here, we investigated to what extent neural correlates of binocular rivalry in healthy humans are confounded by this subjective measure and by action. We used the optokinetic nystagmus and pupil size to objectively and continuously map perceptual alternations for binocular-rivalry stimuli. Combining these two measures with fMRI allowed us to assess the neural correlates of binocular rivalry time locked to the perceptual alternations in the absence of active report. When observers were asked to actively report their percept, our objective measures matched the report. In this active condition, objective measures and subjective reporting revealed that occipital, parietal, and frontal areas underlie the processing of binocular rivalry, replicating earlier findings. Furthermore, objective measures provided additional statistical power due to their continuous nature. Importantly, when observers passively experienced rivalry without reporting perceptual alternations, a different picture emerged: differential neural activity in frontal areas was absent, whereas activation in occipital and parietal regions persisted. Our results question the popular view of a driving role of frontal areas in the initiation of perceptual alternations during binocular rivalry. Instead, we conclude that frontal areas are associated with active report and introspection rather than with rivalry per se.

View Full Text
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 34 (5)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 34, Issue 5
29 Jan 2014
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Advertising (PDF)
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Binocular Rivalry: Frontal Activity Relates to Introspection and Action But Not to Perception
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Binocular Rivalry: Frontal Activity Relates to Introspection and Action But Not to Perception
Stefan Frässle, Jens Sommer, Andreas Jansen, Marnix Naber, Wolfgang Einhäuser
Journal of Neuroscience 29 January 2014, 34 (5) 1738-1747; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4403-13.2014

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Binocular Rivalry: Frontal Activity Relates to Introspection and Action But Not to Perception
Stefan Frässle, Jens Sommer, Andreas Jansen, Marnix Naber, Wolfgang Einhäuser
Journal of Neuroscience 29 January 2014, 34 (5) 1738-1747; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4403-13.2014
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

Articles

  • Choice Behavior Guided by Learned, But Not Innate, Taste Aversion Recruits the Orbitofrontal Cortex
  • Maturation of Spontaneous Firing Properties after Hearing Onset in Rat Auditory Nerve Fibers: Spontaneous Rates, Refractoriness, and Interfiber Correlations
  • Insulin Treatment Prevents Neuroinflammation and Neuronal Injury with Restored Neurobehavioral Function in Models of HIV/AIDS Neurodegeneration
Show more Articles

Behavioral/Cognitive

  • Cortically-evoked movement in humans reflects history of prior executions, not plan for upcoming movement
  • Human-Like Modulation Sensitivity Emerging through Optimization to Natural Sound Recognition
  • Perceptual History Biases Are Predicted by Early Visual-Evoked Activity
Show more Behavioral/Cognitive
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2023 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.