Neural Coupling Binds Visual Tokens to Moving Stimuli

Overview

Journal J Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2005 Nov 4

PMID 16267217

Citations 23

Authors

Michael Rose

Christian Buchel

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Spatially separated visual objects that appear in alternating sequence can be perceived as a single moving object. This phenomenon of apparent motion enables us to perceive sequentially presented images as a motion picture. How does the visual system bind together single visual tokens to one moving object? Here we report a series of experiments investigating apparent motion with electroencephalographic recordings showing that gamma-band oscillatory coupling in the visual cortex is crucial for this phenomenon. We used an ambiguous stimulus that could be perceived as moving either vertically or horizontally. Because visual information from the right and left visual hemifields is routed to the contralateral early visual cortex, in the case of perceived horizontal movement, information from both hemispheres has to be integrated. In accord with this assumption, our data show stronger oscillatory coupling between right and left visual cortices during perception of horizontal motion compared with vertical motion.

Citing Articles

Dynamic changes in large-scale functional connectivity prior to stimulation determine performance in a multisensory task.

Galindo-Leon E, Hollensteiner K, Pieper F, Engler G, Nolte G, Engel A Front Syst Neurosci. 2025; 19:1524547.

PMID: 40012905 PMC: 11860953. DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2025.1524547.

Distinct oscillatory patterns differentiate between segregation and integration processes in perceptual grouping.

Costa G, Schaum M, Duarte J, Martins R, Duarte I, Castelhano J Hum Brain Mapp. 2024; 45(12):e26779.

PMID: 39185735 PMC: 11345702. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26779.

State-Dependent Synchrony and Functional Connectivity in the Primary and Secondary Whisker Somatosensory Cortices.

Khateb M, Schiller J, Schiller Y Front Syst Neurosci. 2021; 15:713397.

PMID: 34616281 PMC: 8489558. DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2021.713397.

Binding Mechanisms in Visual Perception and Their Link With Neural Oscillations: A Review of Evidence From tACS.

Ghiani A, Maniglia M, Battaglini L, Melcher D, Ronconi L Front Psychol. 2021; 12:643677.

PMID: 33828509 PMC: 8019716. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643677.

Selective modulation of interhemispheric connectivity by transcranial alternating current stimulation influences binaural integration.

Preisig B, Riecke L, Sjerps M, Kosem A, Kop B, Bramson B Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021; 118(7).

PMID: 33568530 PMC: 7896308. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015488118.

References

BERTRAND . Oscillatory gamma activity in humans and its role in object representation. Trends Cogn Sci. 1999; 3(4):151-162. DOI: 10.1016/s1364-6613(99)01299-1. View

Srinivasan R, Russell D, Edelman G, Tononi G . Increased synchronization of neuromagnetic responses during conscious perception. J Neurosci. 1999; 19(13):5435-48. PMC: 6782339. View

Kiper D, Knyazeva M, Tettoni L, Innocenti G . Visual stimulus-dependent changes in interhemispheric EEG coherence in ferrets. J Neurophysiol. 1999; 82(6):3082-94. DOI: 10.1152/jn.1999.82.6.3082. View

Knyazeva M, Kiper D, Vildavski V, Despland P, Maeder-Ingvar M, Innocenti G . Visual stimulus-dependent changes in interhemispheric EEG coherence in humans. J Neurophysiol. 1999; 82(6):3095-107. DOI: 10.1152/jn.1999.82.6.3095. View

Maldonado P, Friedman-Hill S, Gray C . Dynamics of striate cortical activity in the alert macaque: II. Fast time scale synchronization. Cereb Cortex. 2000; 10(11):1117-31. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/10.11.1117. View

Engel A, Singer W . Temporal binding and the neural correlates of sensory awareness. Trends Cogn Sci. 2001; 5(1):16-25. DOI: 10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01568-0. View

Jarvis M, Mitra P . Sampling properties of the spectrum and coherency of sequences of action potentials. Neural Comput. 2001; 13(4):717-49. DOI: 10.1162/089976601300014312. View

Varela F, Lachaux J, Rodriguez E, Martinerie J . The brainweb: phase synchronization and large-scale integration. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001; 2(4):229-39. DOI: 10.1038/35067550. View

Tallon-Baudry C, Bertrand O, Fischer C . Oscillatory synchrony between human extrastriate areas during visual short-term memory maintenance. J Neurosci. 2001; 21(20):RC177. PMC: 6763859. View

10.

Fries P, Roelfsema P, Singer W, Engel A . Oscillatory neuronal synchronization in primary visual cortex as a correlate of stimulus selection. J Neurosci. 2002; 22(9):3739-54. PMC: 6758402. DOI: 20026318. View

11.

Struber D, Herrmann C . MEG alpha activity decrease reflects destabilization of multistable percepts. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2002; 14(3):370-82. DOI: 10.1016/s0926-6410(02)00139-8. View

12.

Crick F, Koch C . A framework for consciousness. Nat Neurosci. 2003; 6(2):119-26. DOI: 10.1038/nn0203-119. View

13.

Sterzer P, Eger E, Kleinschmidt A . Responses of extrastriate cortex to switching perception of ambiguous visual motion stimuli. Neuroreport. 2003; 14(18):2337-41. DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200312190-00010. View

14.

Gruber T, Muller M . Oscillatory brain activity dissociates between associative stimulus content in a repetition priming task in the human EEG. Cereb Cortex. 2004; 15(1):109-16. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhh113. View

15.

Chaudhuri A, Glaser D . Metastable motion anisotropy. Vis Neurosci. 1991; 7(5):397-407. DOI: 10.1017/s0952523800009706. View

16.

Engel A, Konig P, Kreiter A, Singer W . Interhemispheric synchronization of oscillatory neuronal responses in cat visual cortex. Science. 1991; 252(5009):1177-9. DOI: 10.1126/science.252.5009.1177. View

17.

Maunsell J, Van Essen D . Topographic organization of the middle temporal visual area in the macaque monkey: representational biases and the relationship to callosal connections and myeloarchitectonic boundaries. J Comp Neurol. 1987; 266(4):535-55. DOI: 10.1002/cne.902660407. View

18.

Gray C, Konig P, Engel A, Singer W . Oscillatory responses in cat visual cortex exhibit inter-columnar synchronization which reflects global stimulus properties. Nature. 1989; 338(6213):334-7. DOI: 10.1038/338334a0. View

19.

Gazzaniga M . Perceptual and attentional processes following callosal section in humans. Neuropsychologia. 1987; 25(1A):119-33. DOI: 10.1016/0028-3932(87)90048-0. View

20.

Bressler S, Coppola R, Nakamura R . Episodic multiregional cortical coherence at multiple frequencies during visual task performance. Nature. 1993; 366(6451):153-6. DOI: 10.1038/366153a0. View