scholarly journals Backward masking: The role of the target + mask composite

1975 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-119
Author(s):  
Stephen Handel
Keyword(s):  
Backward Masking

scholarly journals Perception of invisible masked objects in early infancy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Nakashima ◽  
So Kanazawa ◽  
Masami K. Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Early Infancy ◽  
First Year ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Recurrent Processing ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Visual Backward Masking

AbstractRecurrent loops in the visual cortex play a critical role in visual perception, which is likely not mediated by purely feedforward pathways. However, the development of recurrent loops is poorly understood. The role of recurrent processing has been studied using visual backward masking, a perceptual phenomenon in which a visual stimulus is rendered invisible by a following mask, possibly because of the disruption of recurrent processing. Anatomical studies have reported that recurrent pathways are immature in early infancy. This raises the possibility that younger infants process visual information mainly in a feedforward manner, and thus, they might be able to perceive visual stimuli that adults cannot see because of backward masking. Here, we show that infants under 7 months of age are immune to visual backward masking and that masked stimuli remain visible to younger infants while older infants cannot perceive them. These results suggest that recurrent processing is immature in infants under 7 months and that they are able to perceive objects even without recurrent processing. Our findings indicate that the algorithm for visual perception drastically changes in the second half of the first year of life.

Peripheral Advantage in Texture Segmentation: The Role of Spatial and Temporal Factors

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 273-273
Author(s):  
K Morikawa
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Human Perception ◽  
Texture Segmentation ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
New Type ◽  
Target Performance ◽  
And Performance

Previous studies (eg Kehrer, 1989 Spatial Vision4 45 – 62; Gurnsey et al, 1996 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance22 738 – 757) have shown that performance peaks several degrees from fixation in texture segmentation tasks, and performance falls as the target texture moves closer to the fovea or further into the periphery. There are two theories for this phenomenon: (1) neural processing speed in the fovea is slower than in the periphery (Kehrer 1989), and (2) the spatial frequency band of the texture is too low (ie too coarse) for the foveal receptive fields (Gurnsey et al 1996). However, the use of backward masking in previous studies made it impossible to decide between the two factors. The purpose of the present study was to isolate them. In experiment 1 a new stimulus configuration with backward masking was used, and previous reports were replicated. In experiment 2, the same texture was presented for 110 ms without a mask, but with added random-dot noise. Without limitations on processing time, the mid-peripheral advantage disappeared, which indicated that the previous findings were due to slower neural processing in the fovea. In experiment 3, a new type of texture was devised consisting of pairs of vertical lines with a horizontal offset. The offset was reversed for the target. Performance for unmasked 110 ms presentation was worst near the fovea and improved monotonically up to 12 deg. This peripheral advantage was spatial, not temporal, because it arose from larger receptive field sizes in periphery. When these results are taken together, the present study demonstrates that there are two independent causes for the mid-peripheral advantage in texture segregation.

scholarly journals The role of temporal integration in backward masking

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 762-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Francis
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Integration ◽  
Backward Masking

scholarly journals The Role of Temporal Transients in Forward and Backward Masking

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1390-1390 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Foley
Keyword(s):  
Backward Masking

To attract or to repel, that is the question (for the visual cortex)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Fornaciai ◽  
Joonkoo Park
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Serial Dependence ◽  
Perceptual Adaptation ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Stimulus Representation ◽  
Active Stabilization ◽  
High Level ◽  
Visual Backward Masking

Despite noisy and discontinuous input, vision is remarkably stable and continuous. Recent work suggests that such a remarkable feat is enabled by an active stabilization process that integrates information over time, resulting in attractive serial dependence. However, precise mechanisms underlying serial dependence are still unknown. Here, we demonstrate that suppressing high-level modulatory signal on early cortical activity via visual backward masking completely abolishes the serial dependence effect, indicating the critical role of cortical feedback processing on serial dependence. Moreover, we show that the absence of modulatory feedback results in a robust repulsive aftereffect, as in perceptual adaptation, after only 50 ms of stimulation, indicating the presence of a local neurocomputational process for an automatic and spontaneous recalibration of the stimulus representation. These findings collectively illustrate the interplay between two contrasting cortical computational mechanisms at short timescales that serve as a basis for our perceptual experience.

scholarly journals Recurrent computations for visual pattern completion

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (35) ◽  
pp. 8835-8840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanlin Tang ◽  
Martin Schrimpf ◽  
William Lotter ◽  
Charlotte Moerman ◽  
Ana Paredes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Models ◽  
Partial Information ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Visual Stream ◽  
Strong Argument ◽  
Pattern Completion ◽  
Occluded Objects ◽  
Ventral Visual Stream

Making inferences from partial information constitutes a critical aspect of cognition. During visual perception, pattern completion enables recognition of poorly visible or occluded objects. We combined psychophysics, physiology, and computational models to test the hypothesis that pattern completion is implemented by recurrent computations and present three pieces of evidence that are consistent with this hypothesis. First, subjects robustly recognized objects even when they were rendered <15% visible, but recognition was largely impaired when processing was interrupted by backward masking. Second, invasive physiological responses along the human ventral cortex exhibited visually selective responses to partially visible objects that were delayed compared with whole objects, suggesting the need for additional computations. These physiological delays were correlated with the effects of backward masking. Third, state-of-the-art feed-forward computational architectures were not robust to partial visibility. However, recognition performance was recovered when the model was augmented with attractor-based recurrent connectivity. The recurrent model was able to predict which images of heavily occluded objects were easier or harder for humans to recognize, could capture the effect of introducing a backward mask on recognition behavior, and was consistent with the physiological delays along the human ventral visual stream. These results provide a strong argument of plausibility for the role of recurrent computations in making visual inferences from partial information.

Intensity discrimination under forward and backward masking: Role of referential coding

1995 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 1141-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Plack ◽  
Robert P. Carlyon ◽  
Neal F. Viemeister
Keyword(s):  
Intensity Discrimination ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Referential Coding

The Role of Spatial Switching in the Attentional Blink

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
Vincent Berthet ◽  
Sid Kouider
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Lag 1 Sparing

The attentional blink (AB) is a well-established paradigm in which identification of a target T2 is reduced shortly after presentation of an earlier target T1. An important question concerns the importance of backward masking during the AB. While task switching has been found to be a strong modulator mediating the AB without any masking of T2, the present study investigated whether spatial switching could similarly produce an AB without masking. Using a spatial AB paradigm in which items appeared at different locations; we found (a) a significant AB without backward masking of T2 but no AB when no distractors followed T2, (b) no evidence for Lag 1 sparing. These findings show that when there is a spatial switch between the targets, presenting the distractor following T2 at the same location than T2 (backward masking) is not a necessary condition for the AB to occur, but T2 has to be followed by surrounding distractors (appearing at different locations than T2). This pattern of data confirms that spatial switching is a robust modulator of the AB, but to a less extent than task switching.

Specific amygdala response to masked fearful faces in post-traumatic stress relative to other anxiety disorders

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1209-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Neumeister ◽  
K. Feldker ◽  
C. Y. Heitmann ◽  
C. Buff ◽  
L. Brinkmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Amygdala Activation ◽  
Fearful Faces ◽  
Amygdala Response ◽  
Amygdala Activity ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Conscious Processing

AbstractBackgroundAltered amygdala activation to fear-related stimuli has been proposed to be a potential neural correlate of heightened threat sensitivity in anxiety- and stress-related disorders. However, the role of stimulus awareness and disorder specificity remains widely unclear. Here we investigated amygdala responses to conscious and unconscious fearful faces in patients suffering from panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in a large sample of healthy controls (HC).MethodsDuring event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging participants (n = 120; 20 PD, 20 GAD, 20 PTSD, 60 HC) were confronted with briefly presented fearful faces, neutral faces, and non-faces in a backward masking paradigm. The design allowed for the analysis of trial-by-trial face detection performance and amygdala responses to fearful v. neutral faces.ResultsAll participants exhibited increased amygdala activation to fearful v. neutral faces during conscious trials. Specifically during unconscious face processing, the PTSD, compared with all other groups, showed higher right basolateral (BLA) amygdala activity to fearful v. neutral faces.ConclusionsThe present study shows that BLA amygdala hyperactivity during unconscious, but not conscious, processing of fearful faces differentiates PTSD from the investigated disorders. This finding suggests an automatic and specific neural hyper-responsivity to general fear cues in PTSD and supports the idea of categorical differences between PTSD and other anxiety-related disorders.

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