When Sounds Control Sight: Associative Learning Modifies Perceptual Transitions in Binocular Rivalry

Binocular rivalry occurs when incompatible images presented to each eye lead to alternations between two competing percepts. While several visual and multisensory factors can affect binocular rivalry dynamics, whether perceptual transitions themselves can be subject to cross-modal influences remains unknown. We developed a conditioning paradigm to test whether neutral auditory stimuli, when paired with visual probe-induced perceptual switches, could subsequently influence binocular rivalry dynamics. Participants viewed rivaling orthogonally oriented gratings of different colors. During conditioning, auditory stimuli were systematically paired with visual probes that triggered perceptual switches. Following conditioning, the presentation of conditioned sounds alone produced two effects: shorter dominance durations and, critically, faster perceptual switches. Control conditions confirmed that this conditioning effect could not be attributed to auditory stimulation itself, time on task, or report biases. Our findings provide evidence that binocular rivalry dynamics can be shaped by cross-modal associative learning processes, whereby conditioned sounds serve as predictive cues for perceptual transitions, effectively lowering the threshold for switches between competing stimuli. These results offer new insights into how auditory signals might be incorporated into predictive models that influence visual perception during the resolution of visual ambiguities.