Processes of perceptual inference are most prominent in multistable perception when the brain alternates between several equally probable perceptual explanations such as in the vase-face illusion, Necker cube or binocular rivalry. Under normal viewing conditions the central nervous system resolves the uncertainty of sensory cues seemingly effortlessly and usually derives an accurate perceptual representation. However, often the percept represents only one out of multiple possible hypotheses about the state of the world and is rapidly revised in the light of new evidence that might contradict a current prediction. In psychophysics research we use multistable phenomena (e.g. binocular rivalry, ambiguous figures) to investigate processes of perceptual decision-making under uncertainty. Multistable perception is used as a paradigm for investigating crossmodal interactions – illustrating how cues from multiple sensory modalities can be employed to infer the underlying causes of multistable visual input.

Multisensory integration in multistable perception