Evidence for the View That Temporospatial Integration in Vision is Temporally Anisotropic

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1169-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis M Parker ◽  
J Roly Lishman ◽  
Jim Hughes

In two experiments low-pass and high-pass spatially filtered versions of a base image were prepared and the effect of the order of delivery of sequences of filtered and base images investigated. A task that required subjects to discriminate 120 ms presentations of a full-bandwidth base image and degraded sequences that contained sets of three different spatially filtered versions, or mixtures of spatially filtered and full-bandwidth versions of the image, were used. Each set of images used in the degraded sequences was presented either so that within the 120 ms presentation window the spatial content swept from low to high spatial frequencies or from high to low. In experiment 1 twenty subjects discriminated between a base image and degraded sequences of an urban scene. Results showed both a significant overall effect of image order, with low-to-high spatial-frequency information delivery being mistaken more often for the full-bandwidth presentation than high-to-low, and that different sets of degraded image sequences varied significantly in the frequency with which they were mistaken for the full-bandwidth presentation. In experiment 2 a base and filtered versions of a human face were used in an identical task with twenty different subjects and a very similar pattern of significant results was obtained, although imposed on a lower overall error frequency than that obtained in experiment 1. It was concluded that the results of both experiments provide evidence for an anisotropic temporospatial integration mechanism in which availability of spatial information in a low-to-high spatial-frequency sequence results in more efficient integration than a high-to-low.

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 1576-1582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matia Okubo ◽  
Chikashi Michimata

Right-handed participants performed categorical and coordinate spatial relation tasks on stimuli presented either to the left visual field-right hemisphere (LVF-RH) or to the right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH). The stimuli were either unfiltered or low-pass filtered (i.e., devoid of high spatial frequency content). Consistent with previous studies, the unfiltered condition produced a significant RVF-LH advantage for the categorical task and an LVF-RH advantage for the coordinate task. Low-pass filtering eliminated this Task × Visual Field interaction; thus, the RVF-LH advantage disappeared for the categorical task. The present results suggest that processing of high spatial frequency contributes to the left hemispheric advantage for categorical spatial processing.


Perception ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Fiorentini ◽  
Lamberto Maffei ◽  
Giulio Sandini

The relevance of low and high spatial-frequency information for the recognition of photographs of faces has been investigated by testing recognition of faces that have been either low-pass (LP) or high-pass (HP) filtered in the spatial-frequency domain. The highest resolvable spatial frequency was set at 15 cycles per face width (cycles fw−1). Recognition was much less accurate for images that contained only the low spatial frequencies (up to 5 cycles fw−1) than for images that contained only spatial frequencies higher than 5 cycles fw−1. For faces HP filtered above 8 cycles fw−1, recognition was almost as accurate as for faces LP filtered below 8 cycles fw−1, although the energy content of the latter greatly exceeded that of the former. These findings show that information conveyed by the higher spatial frequencies is not redundant. Rather, it is sufficient by itself to ensure recognition.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghaith Tarawneh ◽  
Vivek Nityananda ◽  
Ronny Rosner ◽  
Steven Errington ◽  
William Herbert ◽  
...  

AbstractRecently, we showed a novel property of the Hassenstein-Reichardt detector: namely, that insect motion detection can be masked by “invisible” noise, i.e. visual noise presented at spatial frequencies to which the animals do not respond when presented as a signal. While this study compared the effect of noise on human and insect motion perception, it used different ways of quantifying masking in two species. This was because the human studies measured contrast thresholds, which were too time-consuming to acquire in the insect given the large number of stimulus parameters examined. Here, we run longer experiments in which we obtained contrast thresholds at just two signal and two noise frequencies. We examine the increase in threshold produced by noise at either the same frequency as the signal, or a different frequency. We do this in both humans and praying mantises (Sphodromantis lineola), enabling us to compare these species directly in the same paradigm. Our results confirm our earlier finding: whereas in humans, visual noise masks much more effectively when presented at the signal spatial frequency, in insects, noise is roughly equivalently effective whether presented at the same frequency or a lower frequency. In both species, visual noise presented at a higher spatial frequency is a less effective mask.Summary StatementWe here show that despite having similar motion detection systems, insects and humans differ in the effect of low and high spatial frequency noise on their contrast thresholds.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Marcia Grabowecky ◽  
Aleksandra Sherman ◽  
Satoru Suzuki

We have previously demonstrated a linear perceptual relationship between auditory amplitude-modulation (AM) rate and visual spatial-frequency using gabors as the visual stimuli. Can this frequency-based auditory–visual association influence perception of natural scenes? Participants consistently matched specific auditory AM rates to diverse visual scenes (nature, urban, and indoor). A correlation analysis indicated that higher subjective density ratings were associated with faster AM-rate matches. Furthermore, both the density ratings and AM-rate matches were relatively scale invariant, suggesting that the underlying crossmodal association is between visual coding of object-based density and auditory coding of AM rate. Based on these results, we hypothesized that concurrently presented fast (7 Hz) or slow (2 Hz) AM-rates might influence how visual attention is allocated to dense or sparse regions within a scene. We tested this hypothesis by monitoring eye movements while participants examined scenes for a subsequent memory task. To determine whether fast or slow sounds guided eye movements to specific spatial frequencies, we computed the maximum contrast energy at each fixation across 12 spatial frequency bands ranging from 0.06–10.16 cycles/degree. We found that the fast sound significantly guided eye movements toward regions of high spatial frequency, whereas the slow sound guided eye movements away from regions of high spatial frequency. This suggests that faster sounds may promote a local scene scanning strategy, acting as a ‘filter’ to individuate objects within dense regions. Our results suggest that auditory AM rate and visual object density are crossmodally associated, and that this association can modulate visual inspection of scenes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Ren ◽  
Jiawei Zhou ◽  
Zhimo Yao ◽  
Zhengchun Wang ◽  
Nini Yuan ◽  
...  

Abstract It is well known that, in humans, contrast sensitivity training at high spatial frequency (SF) not only leads to contrast sensitivity improvement, but also results in an improvement in visual acuity as assessed with gratings (direct effect) or letters (transfer effect). However, the underlying neural mechanisms of this high spatial frequency training improvement remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we examined four properties of neurons in primary visual cortex (area 17) of adult cats that exhibited significantly improved acuity after contrast sensitivity training with a high spatial frequency grating and those of untrained control cats. We found no difference in neuronal contrast sensitivity or tuning width (Width) between the trained and untrained cats. However, the trained cats showed a displacement of the cells’ optimal spatial frequency (OSF) to higher spatial frequencies as well as a larger neuronal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, both the neuronal differences in OSF and SNR were significantly correlated with the improvement of acuity measured behaviorally. These results suggest that striate neurons might mediate the perceptual learning-induced improvement for high spatial frequency stimuli by an alteration in their spatial frequency representation and by an increased SNR.


Perception ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
P J Bex ◽  
F A J Verstraten ◽  
I Mareschal

The motion aftereffect (MAE) was used to study the temporal-frequency and spatial-frequency selectivity of the visual system at suprathreshold contrasts. Observers adapted to drifting sine-wave gratings of a range of spatial and temporal frequencies. The magnitude of the MAE induced by the adaptation was measured with counterphasing test gratings of a variety of spatial and temporal frequencies. Independently of the spatial or temporal frequency of the adapting grating, the largest MAE was found with slowly counterphasing test gratings (∼0.125 – 0.25 Hz). For slowly counterphasing test gratings (<∼2 Hz), the largest MAEs were found when the test grating was of similar spatial frequency to that of the adapting grating, even at very low spatial frequencies (0.125 cycle deg−1). However, such narrow spatial frequency tuning was lost when the temporal frequency of the test grating was increased. The data suggest that MAEs are dominated by a single, low-pass temporal-frequency mechanism and by a series of band-pass spatial-frequency mechanisms at low temporal frequencies. At higher test temporal frequencies, the loss of spatial-frequency tuning implicates separate mechanisms with broader spatial frequency tuning.


Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 200-200
Author(s):  
M I Kankaanpää ◽  
J Rovamo ◽  
H T Kukkonen ◽  
J Hallikainen

Contrast sensitivity functions for achromatic and chromatic gratings tend to be band-pass and low-pass in shape, respectively. Our aim was to test whether spatial integration contributes to the shape difference found at low spatial frequencies. We measured binocular chromatic contrast sensitivity as a function of grating area for objectively equiluminous red - green and blue - yellow chromatic gratings. Chromatic contrast refers to the Michelson contrast of either of the two chromatic component gratings presented in counterphase against the combined background. Grating area ( A) varied from 1 to 256 square cycles ( Af2) at spatial frequencies ( f) of 0.125 – 4.0 cycles deg−1. We used only horizontal gratings at low and medium spatial frequencies to minimise the transverse and longitudinal chromatic aberrations due to ocular optics. At all spatial frequencies studied, chromatic contrast sensitivity increased with grating area. Ac was found to be constant at low spatial frequencies (0.125 – 0.5 cycles deg−1) but decreased in inverse proportion to increasing spatial frequency at 1 – 4 cycles deg−1. Thus, spatial integration depends similarly on spatial frequency for achromatic (Luntinen et al, 1995 Vision Research35 2339 – 2346) and chromatic gratings, and differences in spatial integration do not contribute to the shape difference of the respective contrast sensitivity functions.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1018
Author(s):  
Tina Sabel

Holographic volume phase gratings are recorded in an epoxy-based, free-surface, volume holographic recording material. Light-induced gratings are formed by photo-triggered mass migration caused by component diffusion. The material resolution enables a wide range of pattern spacings, to record both transmission and reflection holograms with many different spatial frequencies. An optimum spatial frequency response is found between the low spatial frequency roll-off and the high spatial frequency cut-off. The influence of the energy density of exposure on the spatial frequency response is investigated. Secondary volume holographic gratings (parasitic gratings) are observed in the high frequency range. The possibility of distinguishing the regular grating from the secondary grating is discussed in the form of probe wavelength detuning.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 2134-2150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. X. Zhou ◽  
C. L. Baker

1. Single cortical neurons are known to respond to visual stimuli containing Fourier components only in a narrow range of spatial frequencies. This investigation demonstrates that some neurons in cat area 17 and 18 can also respond to certain stimuli that have no Fourier components inside the cell's luminance spatial frequency passband. 2. To study such “non-Fourier” responses, we used envelope stimuli that consisted of a high-spatial-frequency sinusoidal luminance grating (carrier) whose contrast was modulated by a low-spatial frequency sine wave (envelope). There was no Fourier component at the apparent periodicity of the envelope spatial frequency. However, some cells responded to such a “phantom” component of the envelope modulation when it fell inside the cell's luminance spatial frequency passband while all the real Fourier components in the stimuli were outside. 3. We conducted extensive control experiments to eliminate the possibility of producing artifactual responses to the envelope stimuli due to any small residual nonlinearity of the z-linearized CRT screen. The control experiments included 1) testing of screen linearity to ensure that the effect from the residual screen nonlinearity was no larger than the sensitivity level of visual responses and 2) comparing the responses to envelope stimuli with the responses to the equivalent contrast of the artifact produced by the screen nonlinearity. All these control experiments indicated that any effect of screen nonlinearity did not contribute significantly to the neural envelope responses. 4. We performed a statistical analysis to obtain an index of relative strength of envelope responses for each cell and to objectively classify cells as “envelope-responsive” or “non-envelope-responsive.”(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Takeshima ◽  
Jiro Gyoba

When a brief single flash is presented simultaneously with two brief beeps, the number of presented flashes is often perceived as two. This phenomenon is referred to as the fission illusion. Several effects related to the fission illusion have been investigated using both psychophysical and neurophysiological methods. The present study examined the effects of spatial frequency on the fission illusion. At a low spatial frequency, transient channels respond preferably; conversely, sustained channels respond preferably at a high spatial frequency. Sustained channels differ in temporal properties from transient channels and are characterized by poor temporal resolution and slow-onset responses. In our previous study, visual stimuli presented at a slow processing speed were not conducive to the fission illusion. Therefore, we hypothesized that the fission illusion would not be difficult to observe when using high spatial frequencies. The results indicated that the degree of the perceived illusory second flash was reduced when spatial frequency was high as compared to when it was is low. Furthermore, according to signal detection theory, this difference between high and low spatial frequencies was not attributed to participants’ response biases. Therefore, the fission illusion likely will not occur in conditions of slow processing speed and long response latencies in sustained channels, which respond preferably to high spatial frequency stimuli. Overall, the results indicated that the fission illusion was affected by temporal characteristics of lower-order sensory processing stages.


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