Long-range cortical systems and local parietal areas engaged during the multiple percepts of bistable figures suggest a role for "highly influential" neural ensembles in perceptual grouping mechanisms: an fMRI investigation

Dynamic coupling between the lateral occipital-cortex, default-mode, and frontoparietal networks during bistable perception

The lateral occipital cortex (LOC), a visual area known to be involved in object recognition, was dynamically coupled with each of two distributed patterns of neural activity depending upon the percept (default or alternative) elicited by a bistable figure. The two distributed patterns included core nodes of the default-mode and frontoparietal networks (FPN), and they were most highly coupled to each other during the alternative percept, whereas they were less coupled during the default percept. Surprisingly, the regions associated with the nonengaged percept exhibited the highest connectivity to the LOC. Together, these findings reveal a dynamic organization between the default mode and the FPNs, and the incoming bottom-up visual stream during perceptual binding of visual images.