Predicting Perception of the Wagon Wheel Illusion

Stroboscopic illumination of a rapidly rotating disk with radial spokes leads to a range of different stationary and moving images as the angular rotation frequency of the disk and the strobe frequency are varied. We compare predictions from the standard correlation model of motion perception with a model based on phase locking observed during periodic stimulation of an integrate-and-fire nonlinear oscillator. The close agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental observations suggests the possibility that periodic forcing of nonlinear neural oscillations may play a role in motion perception.