Infant visual attention and step responsiveness to optic flow during treadmill stepping

Victoria A. Moerchen; Mina E. Saeed

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2012.05.008

Dissociating Vision and Visual Attention in the Human Pulvinar

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.90963.2008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 101 (2) ◽

pp. 917-925 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

A. T. Smith ◽

P. L. Cotton ◽

A. Bruno ◽

C. Moutsiana

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Visual Attention ◽

Visual Stimulus ◽

Optic Flow ◽

Nonhuman Primates ◽

Retinotopic Organization ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

Mri Study ◽

Related Design ◽

Central Fixation

The pulvinar region of the thalamus has repeatedly been linked with the control of attention. However, the functions of the pulvinar remain poorly characterized, both in human and in nonhuman primates. In a functional MRI study, we examined the relative contributions to activity in the human posterior pulvinar made by visual drive (the presence of an unattended visual stimulus) and attention (covert spatial attention to the stimulus). In an event-related design, large optic flow stimuli were presented to the left and/or right of a central fixation point. When unattended, the stimuli robustly activated two regions of the pulvinar, one medial and one dorsal with respect to the lateral geniculate. The activity in both regions shows a strong contralateral bias, suggesting retinotopic organization. Primate physiology suggests that the two regions could be two portions of the same double map of the visual field. In our paradigm, attending to the stimulus enhanced the response by about 20%. Thus attention is not necessary to activate the human pulvinar and the degree of attentional enhancement matches, but does not exceed, that seen in the cortical regions with which the posterior pulvinar connects.

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Through hawks' eyes: reconstructing a bird's visual field in flight to study gaze strategy and attention during perching and obstacle avoidance

10.1101/2021.06.16.446415 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sofia Minano ◽

Graham K Taylor

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Visual Attention ◽

Obstacle Avoidance ◽

Motion Capture ◽

Optic Flow ◽

Visual Cues ◽

Small Subset ◽

Depth Information ◽

Motion Capture Data ◽

Full Dataset

We present a method to analyse visual attention of a bird in flight, that combines motion capture data with renderings from virtual cameras. We applied it to a small subset of a larger dataset of perching and obstacle avoidance manoeuvres, and studied visual field stabilisation and gaze shifts. Our approach allows us to synthesise visual cues available to the bird during flight, such as depth information and optic flow, which can lead to novel insights into the bird's gaze strategy in flight. This preliminary work demonstrates the method and suggests several new hypotheses to investigate with the full dataset.

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Fruit flies increase attention to their frontal visual field during fast forward optic flow

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2018.0767 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 20180767 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Nicholas Palermo ◽

Jamie Theobald

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Visual Attention ◽

Flow Field ◽

Optic Flow ◽

Fruit Flies ◽

Motion Blur ◽

Image Motion ◽

Forward Flight ◽

Forward Motion ◽

Visual Areas

Fruit flies must compensate for the limited light gathered by the tiny facets of their eyes, and image motion during flight lowers light catch even further. Motion blur is especially problematic in fast regions of the visual field, perpendicular to forward motion, but flow fields also contain slower regions, less affected by blur. To test whether fruit flies shift their attention to predictably slower regions of a flow field, we placed flies in an arena simulating forward flight and measured responses to turning cues in different visual areas. We find that during fast forward flight, fruit flies respond more strongly to turning cues presented directly in front, and less strongly to cues presented to the sides, supporting the hypothesis that flying fruit flies shift visual attention to slower moving regions less affected by motion blur.

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Artificial Optic Flow Guides Visual Attention in a Driving Scene

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1177/0018720819847022 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 62 (4) ◽

pp. 578-588 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yoko Higuchi ◽

Satoshi Inoue ◽

Hiroto Hamada ◽

Takatsune Kumada

Keyword(s):

Visual Attention ◽

Traffic Safety ◽

Optic Flow ◽

Visual Information ◽

Past Research ◽

Traffic Situation ◽

Significant Information ◽

Safe Driving ◽

Focus Of Expansion ◽

Dot Motion

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate whether an artificial optic flow created by dot motion guides attention in a driving scene. Background To achieve safe driving, it is essential to understand the characteristics of human visual information processing as well as to provide appropriate support for drivers. Past research has demonstrated that expanding optic flow guides visual attention to the focus of expansion. Optic flow is an attractive candidate for use as a cue to direct drivers’ attention toward the significant information. The question addressed concerns whether an artificial optic flow can successfully guide attention even in a traffic situation involving the optic flow that naturally occurs while driving. Method We developed a visual search paradigm embedded in a video of a driving scene. Participants first observed an optic flow motion pattern superimposed on the video for brief period; next, when the optic flow and video ceased, they searched a static display for a target among multiple distractors. Results The target detection was faster when a target’s locus coincided with the implied focus of expansion from the preceding optic flow (vs. other loci). Conclusion The artificial optic flow guides attention and facilitates searching objects at the focus of expansion even when the optic flow was superimposed on a driving scene. Application Optic flow can be an effective cue for guiding drivers’ attention in a traffic situation. This finding contributes to the understanding of visual attention in moving space and helps develop technology for traffic safety.

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Visual Spatial Attention in Migraine Sufferers in Postictal and Interictal Phases: An Event-Related Potential Study

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027//0269-8803.15.1.22 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 22-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

D.H. de Koning ◽

J.C. Woestenburg ◽

M. Elton

Keyword(s):

Cerebral Cortex ◽

Visual Attention ◽

Migraine Attack ◽

Spatial Attention ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Significant Enhancement ◽

Pathophysiological Mechanism ◽

Attention Task ◽

Visual Spatial Attention ◽

Visual Spatial

Migraineurs with and without aura (MWAs and MWOAs) as well as controls were measured twice with an interval of 7 days. The first session of recordings and tests for migraineurs was held about 7 hours after a migraine attack. We hypothesized that electrophysiological changes in the posterior cerebral cortex related to visual spatial attention are influenced by the level of arousal in migraineurs with aura, and that this varies over the course of time. ERPs related to the active visual attention task manifested significant differences between controls and both types of migraine sufferers for the N200, suggesting a common pathophysiological mechanism for migraineurs. Furthermore, migraineurs without aura (MWOAs) showed a significant enhancement for the N200 at the second session, indicating the relevance of time of measurement within migraine studies. Finally, migraineurs with aura (MWAs) showed significantly enhanced P240 and P300 components at central and parietal cortical sites compared to MWOAs and controls, which seemed to be maintained over both sessions and could be indicative of increased noradrenergic activity in MWAs.

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