Speaker: John Rinzel
Professor of Neural Science and Mathematics
New York University.

Title: Dynamics of Perceptual Bistability

Abstract: When visualizing an ambiguous scene (such as the Necker cube) one may per- ceive ongoing temporal alternation between the possible interpretations. Various dy- namical models lead to alternating mutual exclusivity with neuronal competition imple- mented as reciprocal inhibition between neuronal populations. Slow negative feedback sets the basic time scale (seconds) for switching. We will describe two mechanistic frame- works for the switching behavior. If the negative feedback is strong enough it can over- come dominance and alternations occur intrinsically and periodically; noise perturbs the regularity. In an alternative, attractor-based, framework negative feedback is relatively weaker and switches are induced by noise operating on a bistable system. Statistics of the observed alternations provide constraints that favor an operating range near the transition zone between the two mechanisms.

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