Neuronal activity and its links with the perception of multi–stable figures

• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1112
• Publication Date: 2002-09-06T21:24:08Z
• Authors: Andrew J. Parker; Kristine Krug; Bruce G. Cumming
• Keywords: Cerebral Cortex; Neurons; 0301 basic medicine; Vision, Binocular; 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; Visual Perception; Animals; Macaca; Choice Behavior; Photic Stimulation; Probability

In order to isolate the neuronal activity that relates to the making of perceptual decisions, we have made use of a perceptually ambiguous motion stimulus. This stimulus lies on the boundary between two perceptual categories that correspond to clockwise and counter–clockwise rotation of a three–dimensional figure. It consists of a two–dimensional pattern of moving dots that are capable of generating these two, distinct, three–dimensional percepts. We have studied the responses of neurons in cortical area V5/MT whilst macaque monkeys report judgements about the perceptual configuration of this stimulus. We extract a quantitative statistic called ‘choice probability’ that expresses the covariation of neuronal activity and perceptual choice. An analysis of choice probabilities shows that the pool of neurons involved in the perceptual decisions is a tightly constrained subset of the population of sensory neurons relevant to the perceptual task.