Perception integrates external sensory signals with internal predictions that reflect prior knowledge about the world. Previous research suggests that this integration is governed by slow alternations between an external mode, driven by sensory signals, and an internal mode, shaped by prior knowledge. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over experiment in healthy human participants,...
The signals registered by our senses are inherently ambiguous. Subjective experience, by contrast, is informative: it portrays one's interpretation of the sensory environment at a time while discarding competing alternatives. This is exemplified by bistable perception, where ambiguous sensory information induces prolonged intervals of alternating unambiguous perceptual states. According to...