Relationship between change detection and pre-change [corrected] activity in visual area V1.

Humans are poor at detecting changes to visual scenes occurring during brief disruptions. It is unclear whether this 'change blindness' results from failure to process the relevant item before the change, or failure to compare/recall the item after the change. We recorded pre-change multi-unit activity in area V1 of monkeys performing a change detection task. The animals were rewarded for making a saccade to the changing figure. Figure-ground related activity was observed, even when no correct saccade was made. However, for the changing figure, pre-change activity was stronger in correct trials than in incorrect trials. We conclude that small differences in pre-change figure-ground segregation have predictive value in whether the change will be successfully detected.