Perceptual manifestations of fast neural plasticity: Motion priming, rapid motion aftereffect and perceptual sensitization

Visual neurons show fast adaptive behavior in response to brief visual input. However, the perceptual consequences of this rapid neural adaptation are less known. Here, we show that brief exposure to a moving adaptation stimulus—ranging from tens to hundreds of milliseconds—influences the perception of a subsequently presented ambiguous motion test stimulus. Whether the ambiguous motion is perceived to move in the same direction (priming), or in the opposite direction (rapid motion aftereffect) varies systematically with the duration of the adaptation stimulus and the adaptation-test blank interval. These biases appear and decay rapidly. Moreover, when the adapting stimulus is itself ambiguous, these effects are not produced. Instead, the percept for the subsequent test stimulus is biased to the perceived direction of the adaptation stimulus. This effect (perceptual sensitization) builds gradually over the time between the adaptation and test stimuli. Our results indicate that rapid adaptation plays a role mainly within early motion processing, whereas a slow potentiation controls the sensitivity at a later stage.