Binocular rivalry, brain stimulation and bipolar disorder

What is it about?

This book chapter provides a comprehensive and up-to-date summary of clinical, molecular, genetic and comparative aspects relating to the diagnostic utility of slow binocular rivalry rate. It also presents the first review of brain stimulation studies of rivalry in the literature, along with an overview of a novel neural model of rivalry: the interhemispheric switch hypothesis.

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Why is it important?

This work sets the platform for investigating the thesis that bistable (anti-phase) interhemispheric oscillations are a fundamental neurobiological mechanism — given they’re widely observed in several species (e.g., rodents, birds, cetaceans, humans, Drosophila) and across diverse phenotypes such as biological rhythms (e.g., sleep/wake and menstrual cycles), autonomic functions, oculomotor activity, perception/attention and mood/behaviour changes. Studies in this area will aim to determine whether the underlying genes, neural network dynamics (e.g., vestibulocortical circuitry) and molecular mechanisms are conserved in nature, with significant implications for translational outcomes across psychiatry, neurology and sleep medicine.