Fig. 1: Recorded area, BR paradigm and example unit activity.

a, Utah array location displayed over the vlPFC (schematic macaque brain and post implantation location in one animal). b, Visual input, OKN and spiking activity during an example BR and PA trial. A drifting sinusoidal grating (downward) was monocularly presented first during both trials. During BR, an upward drifting grating was presented to the contralateral eye 2000 ms later, resulting in perceptual suppression (BFS) of downward motion, as inferred from the OKN (grey curve). Externally induced perceptual suppression lasted ~3000 ms, following which a spontaneous switch (~5000 ms) reinstated the perception of downward motion (green curve). Units 33 and 119 display strong spiking activity when downward drifting grating is perceptually dominant, while units 44 and 167 respond more when upward drifting grating is perceived. Below is a PA trial. Following initial monocular presentation of downward drifting grating, an upward drifting grating was presented to the contralateral eye. The stimulus was switched later (~4500 ms) resulting in a change in OKN polarity. Individual units were preferentially modulated by similar direction of motion as during BR c, Perceptual dominance distributions during flash suppression and rivalry phases (derived from the OKN traces) are approximated well by a gamma distribution. d, Sites with significant stimulus preference (Wilcoxon rank-sum test, two-sided, p ≤  0.05) during PA trials (physical alternation phase) projected on the array for one recording session (selectivity here was computed using spiking activity recorded from a given electrode). Location of units (identified after spike sorting) presented in b are marked. Green and pink pixels reflect sites, where activity was stronger for downward or upward drifting gratings, respectively. e, Average spike density functions of two simultaneously recorded PFC units, 33 (preferred downward motion) and 167 (preferred upward motion), during PA and BR trials. Pink and green colors in the first four columns depict responses pertaining to downward and upward drifting grating respectively. The last two columns display the activity during a stimulus or perceptual switch from downward to an upward drifting grating (pink) and vice versa (green). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.