Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2025
06:12
Long-term Sensory Conflict in Freely Behaving Mice
Published on: February 20, 2019
6.8K
Sensory processing in humans and mice fluctuates between external and internal modes
Veith Weilnhammer1,2,3, Heiner Stuke1,2, Kai Standvoss1
1Department of Psychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Plos Biology
|December 8, 2023
Summary
Perception naturally shifts between focusing on external information and internal predictions. These shifts, driven by processing dynamics, optimize sensory inference in changing environments.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Perception exhibits cyclical fluctuations in sensitivity to external stimuli.
- These fluctuations may stem from processing limitations or structured inference mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature of slow perceptual fluctuations.
- To determine if these fluctuations represent noise or a mechanism for perceptual inference.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of two large-scale human and mouse datasets.
- Computational modeling of perceptual dynamics.
Main Results:
- Humans and mice alternate between externally and internally oriented sensory analysis modes.
- External mode prioritizes sensory input, while internal mode relies on perceptual history.
- Mode switching is facilitated by input integration and antiphase oscillations between external information and internal predictions.
Conclusions:
- Slow perceptual fluctuations are not epiphenomenal but a structured mechanism for inference.
- Dynamic mode switching optimizes perception in volatile environments by generating clear error signals.
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