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Optical images of visible and invisible percepts in the primary visual cortex of primates
Journal Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Publication Date
1999-12-21
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Publication Volume
96
Publication Issue
26
Publication Begin
15208
Publication End
15210
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Abstract
We optically imaged a visual masking illusion in primary visual cortex (area V-1) of rhesus monkeys to ask whether activity in the early visual system more closely reflects the physical stimulus or the generated percept. Visual illusions can be a powerful way to address this question because they have the benefit of dissociating the stimulus from perception. We used an illusion in which a flickering target (a bar oriented in visual space) is rendered invisible by two counter-phase flickering bars, called masks, which flank and abut the target. The target and masks, when shown separately, each generated correlated activity on the surface of the cortex. During the illusory condition, however, optical signals generated in the cortex by the target disappeared although the image of the masks persisted. The optical image thus was correlated with perception but not with the physical stimulus.
Citation
Macknik SL, Haglund MM. Optical images of visible and invisible percepts in the primary visual cortex of primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Dec 21;96(26):15208-10. doi: 10.1073/pnas.96.26.15208. PMID: 10611363; PMCID: PMC24798.