When two different odorants are presented simultaneously to the two nostrils, we experience alternations in olfactory percepts, a phenomenon called binaral rivalry. Little is known about the nature of such alternations. Here we investigate this issue by subjecting unstable and stable olfactory percepts to the influences of visual perceptual or semantic cues as participants engage in simultaneou...

BACKGROUND Although the induction of behavioural unconsciousness during sleep and general anaesthesia has been shown to involve overlapping brain mechanisms, sleep involves cyclic fluctuations between different brain states known as active (paradoxical or rapid eye movement: REM) and quiet (slow-wave or non-REM: nREM) stages whereas commonly used general anaesthetics induce a unitary slow-wave ...

When observing bistable stimuli, the percept can change in the absence of changes in the stimulus itself. When intermittently presenting a bistable stimulus, the number of perceptual alternations can increase or decrease, depending on the duration of the period that the stimulus is removed from screen between stimulus presentations (off-period). Longer off-periods lead to stabilization of the p...