A reevaluation of achromatic spatio-temporal vision: nonoriented filters are monocular, they adapt, and can be used for decision making at high flicker speeds

Abstract

Masking, adaptation, and summation paradigms have been used to investigate the characteristics of early spatio-temporal vision. Each has been taken to provide evidence for (i) oriented and (ii) nonoriented spatial-filtering mechanisms. However, subsequent findings suggest that the evidence for nonoriented mechanisms has been misinterpreted: those experiments might have revealed the characteristics of suppression (eg, gain control), not excitation, or merely the isotropic subunits of the oriented detecting mechanisms. To shed light on this, we used all three paradigms to focus on the ‘high-speed’ corner of spatio-temporal vision (low spatial frequency, high temporal frequency), where cross-oriented achromatic effects are greatest. We used flickering Gabor patches as targets and a 2IFC procedure for monocular, binocular, and dichoptic stimulus presentations. To account for our results, we devised a simple model involving an isotropic monocular filter-stage feeding orientation-tuned binocular filters. Both filter stages are adaptable, and their outputs are available to the decision stage following nonlinear contrast transduction. However, the monocular isotropic filters (i) adapt only to high-speed stimuli—consistent with a magnocellular subcortical substrate—and (ii) benefit decision making only for high-speed stimuli (ie, isotropic monocular outputs are available only for high-speed stimuli). According to this model, the visual processes revealed by masking, adaptation, and summation are related but not identical.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1068/i0416
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry
College of Health & Life Sciences > Clinical and Systems Neuroscience
College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Centre for Vision and Hearing Research
Additional Information: Copyright is retained by the author(s) of this article. This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Licence, which permits noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original author(s) and source are credited and no alterations are made.
Uncontrolled Keywords: masking,adaptation,subthreshold summation,contrast detection,human vision,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology,Sensory Systems,Artificial Intelligence
Last Modified: 23 Jan 2024 17:23
Date Deposited: 29 Jun 2011 09:18
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Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
http://journals ... s/10.1068/i0416 (Publisher URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2011-06-22
Authors: Meese, Timothy S. (ORCID Profile 0000-0003-3744-4679)
Baker, Daniel H.

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