Effects of Foveal Stimulation on Peripheral Visual Processing and Laterality in Deaf and Hearing Subjects

Visual snow syndrome, characterized by persistent flickering dots throughout the visual field, has been hypothesized to arise from abnormal neuronal responsiveness in visual processing regions. Previous research has reported a lack of typical VEP habituation to repeated stimulus presentation in patients with visual snow. Yet these studies generally used pattern-reversal paradigms, which are suboptimal for measuring cortical responses to the onset of foveal stimulation. Instead, these responses are better indexed by the C2, a pattern-onset VEP peaking 100–120 ms after stimulus onset. In this case study, we analyzed the C2 and its adaptation profile in data previously collected from a single patient with visual snow using a “double-pulse” presentation paradigm. In controls, shorter intervals between stimulus pairs were associated with greater attenuation of the C2 VEP, with recovery from adaptation at longer stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). However, the visual snow patient showed the opposite pattern, with reduced C2 amplitude at longer SOAs despite distinct C2 peaks at the shortest SOAs. These results stand in contrast not only to the pattern of C2 VEP attenuation in controls, but also to a lack of adaptation previously reported for the pattern-onset P1 VEP in this patient. Exploratory source localization using equivalent current dipole fitting further suggested that P1 and C2 VEPs in the visual snow patient arose from distinct sources in extrastriate visual cortex. While preliminary, these results support differential patterns of VEP attenuation and potentiation within the same individual, potentially pointing toward multiple mechanisms of abnormal neuronal responsiveness in visual snow syndrome.

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Cortical visual processing

Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology ◽

10.1016/s0013-4694(97)87994-5 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 20

Author(s):

G Celesia

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Cortical Visual Processing

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Top-Down Processing and Visual Reorientation Illusions in a Virtual Reality Environment

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185.63.3.143 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 63 (3) ◽

pp. 143-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Fred W. Mast ◽

Charles M. Oman

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Line Length ◽

Perceptual Cues ◽

Virtual Reality Environment ◽

Top Down ◽

Test Conditions ◽

The Subject ◽

Processing Mechanisms

The role of top-down processing on the horizontal-vertical line length illusion was examined by means of an ambiguous room with dual visual verticals. In one of the test conditions, the subjects were cued to one of the two verticals and were instructed to cognitively reassign the apparent vertical to the cued orientation. When they have mentally adjusted their perception, two lines in a plus sign configuration appeared and the subjects had to evaluate which line was longer. The results showed that the line length appeared longer when it was aligned with the direction of the vertical currently perceived by the subject. This study provides a demonstration that top-down processing influences lower level visual processing mechanisms. In another test condition, the subjects had all perceptual cues available and the influence was even stronger.

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Differential Performance of Professional Dancers to the Music Apperception Test and the Thematic Apperception Test

Rorschachiana Journal of the International Society for the Rorschach ◽

10.1027/1192-5604/a000098 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 20-49

Author(s):

Leland van den Daele ◽

Ashley Yates ◽

Sharon Rae Jenkins

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Thematic Apperception Test ◽

Performance Tests ◽

Basic Emotions ◽

Gender And Age ◽

Thematic Apperception ◽

Professional Dancers ◽

Visually Based ◽

Modality Preference

Abstract. This project compared the relative performance of professional dancers and nondancers on the Music Apperception Test (MAT; van den Daele, 2014 ), then compared dancers’ performance on the MAT with that on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943 ). The MAT asks respondents to “tell a story to the music” in compositions written to represent basic emotions. Dancers had significantly shorter response latency and were more fluent in storytelling than a comparison group matched for gender and age. Criterion-based evaluation of dancers’ narratives found narrative emotion consistent with music written to portray the emotion, with the majority integrating movement, sensation, and imagery. Approximately half the dancers were significantly more fluent on the MAT than the TAT, while the other half were significantly more fluent on the TAT than the MAT. Dancers who were more fluent on the MAT had a higher proportion of narratives that integrated movement and imagery compared with those more fluent on the TAT. The results were interpreted as consistent with differences observed in neurological studies of auditory and visual processing, educational studies of modality preference, and the cognitive style literature. The MAT provides an assessment tool to complement visually based performance tests in personality appraisal.

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The Gender Typicality of Faces and Its Impact on Visual Processing and on Hiring Decisions

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000217 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 60 (6) ◽

pp. 444-452 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Lisa von Stockhausen ◽

Sara Koeser ◽

Sabine Sczesny

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Past Research ◽

Visual Exploration ◽

Facial Appearance ◽

Leadership Roles ◽

Hiring Decisions ◽

Leadership Selection ◽

Gender Typicality ◽

Second Stage ◽

The Feminine

Past research has shown that the gender typicality of applicants’ faces affects leadership selection irrespective of a candidate’s gender: A masculine facial appearance is congruent with masculine-typed leadership roles, thus masculine-looking applicants are hired more certainly than feminine-looking ones. In the present study, we extended this line of research by investigating hiring decisions for both masculine- and feminine-typed professional roles. Furthermore, we used eye tracking to examine the visual exploration of applicants’ portraits. Our results indicate that masculine-looking applicants were favored for the masculine-typed role (leader) and feminine-looking applicants for the feminine-typed role (team member). Eye movement patterns showed that information about gender category and facial appearance was integrated during first fixations of the portraits. Hiring decisions, however, were not based on this initial analysis, but occurred at a second stage, when the portrait was viewed in the context of considering the applicant for a specific job.

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