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Gestalt-based feature binding becomes problematic if different objects overlap in their positional configuration and/or feature space, or if features vary over the spatial extent of an object. If synchronization is to be a viable mechanism for binding the responses of disparate feature selective neurons in the brain, it must cope with resulting ambiguities. In this article the synchronization properties of an oscillator network for multidimensional feature binding are investigated. For non-uniform feature distributions in a stimulus, its components are adequately represented by the eigenmodes of the oscillatory dynamics. The significance of the eigenmodes corresponds to the salience of different stimulus interpretations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The phase of neural oscillatory signals aligns to the predicted onset of upcoming stimulation. Whether such phase alignments represent phase resets of underlying neural oscillations or just rhythmically evoked activity, and whether they can be observed in a rhythm-free visual context, however, remains unclear. Here, we recorded the magnetoencephalogram while participants were engaged in a temporal prediction task, judging the visual or tactile reappearance of a uniformly moving stimulus. The prediction conditions were contrasted with a control condition to dissociate phase adjustments of neural oscillations from stimulus-driven activity. We observed stronger delta band inter-trial phase consistency (ITPC) in a network of sensory, parietal and frontal brain areas, but no power increase reflecting stimulus-driven or prediction-related evoked activity. Delta ITPC further correlated with prediction performance in the cerebellum and visual cortex. Our results provide evidence that phase alignments of low-frequency neural oscillations underlie temporal predictions in a non-rhythmic visual and crossmodal context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]