Computational evidence for a rivalry hierarchy in vision

Cortical-form vision comprises multiple, hierarchically arranged areas with feedforward and feedback interconnections. This complex architecture poses difficulties for attempts to link perceptual phenomena to activity at a particular level of the system. This difficulty has been especially salient in studies of binocular rivalry alternations, where there is seemingly conflicting evidence for a locus in primary visual cortex or alternatively in higher cortical areas devoted to object perception. Here, I use a competitive neural model to demonstrate that the data require at least two hierarchic rivalry stages for their explanation. This model demonstrates that competitive inhibition in the first rivalry stage can be eliminated by using suitable stimulus dynamics, thereby revealing properties of a later stage, a result obtained with both spike-rate and conductance-based model neurons. This result provides a synthesis of competing rivalry theories and suggests that neural competition may be a general characteristic throughout the form-vision hierarchy.