title: Stochastic correlative firing for figure-ground segregation.
abstract: Segregation of sensory inputs into separate objects is a central aspect of perception and arises in all sensory modalities. The figure-ground segregation problem requires identifying an object of interest in a complex scene, in many cases given binaural auditory or binocular visual observations. The computations required for visual and auditory figure-ground segregation share many common features and can be cast within a unified framework. Sensory perception can be viewed as a problem of optimizing information transmission. Here we suggest a stochastic correlative firing mechanism and an associative learning rule for figure-ground segregation in several classic sensory perception tasks, including the cocktail party problem in binaural hearing, binocular fusion of stereo images, and Gestalt grouping in motion perception.
authors.affiliation: Adaptive Systems Lab, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, L8S 4K1. zhechen@soma.crl.mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology