Dynamics of history-dependent perceptual judgment

I. Hachen, S. Reinartz, R. Brasselet, A. Stroligo and M. E. Diamond ()
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I. Hachen: Tactile Perception and Learning Laboratory, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA)
S. Reinartz: Tactile Perception and Learning Laboratory, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA)
R. Brasselet: Tactile Perception and Learning Laboratory, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA)
A. Stroligo: Tactile Perception and Learning Laboratory, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA)
M. E. Diamond: Tactile Perception and Learning Laboratory, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA)

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Identical physical inputs do not always evoke identical percepts. To investigate the role of stimulus history in tactile perception, we designed a task in which rats had to judge each vibrissal vibration, in a long series, as strong or weak depending on its mean speed. After a low-speed stimulus (trial n − 1), rats were more likely to report the next stimulus (trial n) as strong, and after a high-speed stimulus, they were more likely to report the next stimulus as weak, a repulsive effect that did not depend on choice or reward on trial n − 1. This effect could be tracked over several preceding trials (i.e., n − 2 and earlier) and was characterized by an exponential decay function, reflecting a trial-by-trial incorporation of sensory history. Surprisingly, the influence of trial n − 1 strengthened as the time interval between n − 1 and n grew. Human subjects receiving fingertip vibrations showed these same key findings. We are able to account for the repulsive stimulus history effect, and its detailed time scale, through a single-parameter model, wherein each new stimulus gradually updates the subject’s decision criterion. This model points to mechanisms underlying how the past affects the ongoing subjective experience.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26104-2

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