Hierarchical cortical and subcortical mechanisms underlying binocular rivalry

• Published in: bioRxiv
• Main Authors: Qian, Chencan, Chen, Zhiqiang, De Hollander, Gilles, Knapen, Tomas, Zhang, Zihao, He, Sheng, Zhang, Peng
• Format: Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 12.02.2023
• Subjects: Binocular vision; Competition; Eye; Feedback; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Intraparietal sulcus; Lateral geniculate nucleus; Neural networks; Ocular dominance; Pulvinar; Thalamus; Visual cortex; Visual perception
• DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.11.528110

Conscious perception alternates between the two eyes' images during binocular rivalry. How hierarchical processes in our brain interact to resolve visual competition remains unclear. Here we investigated mesoscale neural circuitry of binocular rivalry in human cortical and subcortical areas using high-resolution functional MRI at 7 Tesla. Eye-specific rivalry modulation was strongest in the superficial layers of V1 ocular dominance columns (ODCs), and more synchronized in the superficial and deep layers. The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) generated stronger eye-specific modulation and increased feedback connectivity to the early visual cortex during binocular rivalry compared to stimulus replay. Although there was no evidence of eye-specific rivalry modulation in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus, strong perceptual rivalry modulation can be found in its parvocellular (P) subdivision. Finally, IPS and ventral pulvinar showed robust perceptual rivalry modulation and increased connectivity to the early visual cortex. These findings demonstrate that local interocular competition arises from lateral mutual inhibition between V1 ODCs, and feedback signals from IPS to visual cortex and visual thalamus further resolve and synchronize visual competitions to generate conscious perception.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.