Rapid Reweighting of Sensory Inputs and Predictions in Visual Perception

Abstract

A striking perceptual phenomenon has recently been described wherein people report seeing abrupt jumps in the location of a smoothly moving object (“position resets”). Here, we show that this phenomenon can be understood within the framework of recursive Bayesian estimation as arising from transient gain changes, temporarily prioritizing sensory input over predictive beliefs. From this perspective, position resets reveal a capacity for rapid adaptive precision weighting in human visual perception and offer a possible test bed within which to study the timing and flexibility of sensory gain control.