Abstract
When elements of a parallel network, such as the human brain, are extensively interconnected, the network can exhibit ‘cooperative behaviour’. Such behaviour, which is characterized by order-disorder transitions, multi-stable states, and a form of memory called ‘hysteresis‘, has been observed in human stereopsis1,2 and has motivated models of stereopsis that incorporate cooperative networks3–6. More recently, cooperative phenomena have also been observed in human visual motion perception7. This report strongly supports a cooperative interpretation of motion perception by demonstrating hysteresis in the perception of motion direction. The results agree quantitatively with a mathematical model incorporating nonlinear excitatory and inhibitory interactions among direction-selective elements.
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Williams, D., Phillips, G. & Sekuler, R. Hysteresis in the perception of motion direction as evidence for neural cooperativity. Nature 324, 253–255 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/324253a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/324253a0
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