Heading perception from optic flow occurs at both perceptual representation and working memory stages with EEG evidence

Psychophysical studies have demonstrated that heading perception from optic flow occurs in perceptual and post-perceptual stages. The post-perception stage is a complex concept, containing working memory. The current study examined whether working memory was involved in heading perception from optic flow by asking participants to conduct a heading perception task and recording their scalp EEG. On each trial, an optic flow display was presented, followed by a blank display. Participants were then asked to report their perceived heading. We know that participants would tend to automatically forget previous headings when they learned that previously presented headings were unrelated to the current heading perception to save cognitive resources. As a result, we could not decode previous headings from the EEG data of current trials. More importantly, if we successfully decoded previous headings when the blank display (optic flow) was presented, then working memory (perceptual representation stage) was involved in heading perception. Our results showed that the decoding accuracy was significantly higher than the chance level when the optic flow and blank displays were presented. Therefore, the current study provided electrophysiological evidence that heading perception from optic flow occurred in the perceptual representation and working memory stages, against the previous perceptual claim.

Automated summary

Psychophysical studies have found that heading perception from optic flow involves perceptual and post-perceptual stages, including working memory. This study examined the involvement of working memory in heading perception by recording scalp EEG while participants performed a heading perception task. The results showed that previous headings could be decoded from the EEG data when the blank display was presented, indicating the involvement of working memory in heading perception.