Direction discrimination thresholds in binocular, monocular, and dichoptic viewing: Motion opponency and contrast gain control. 2017

Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
Department of Human Science, Kanagawa University, Yokohama, Japangoro@kanagawa-u.ac.jphttps://goromaehara.net/.

We studied the binocular organization of motion opponency and its relationship to contrast gain control. Luminance contrast thresholds for discriminating direction of motion were measured for drifting Gabor patterns (target) presented on counterphase flickering Gabor patterns (pedestal). There were four presentation conditions: binocular, monocular, dichoptic, and half-binocular. For the half-binocular presentation, the target was presented to one eye while pedestals were presented to both eyes. In addition, to test for motion opponency, we studied two increment and decrement conditions, in which the target increased contrast for one direction of movement but decreased it for the opposite moving component of the pedestal. Threshold versus pedestal contrast functions showed a dipper shape, and there was a strong interaction between pedestal contrast and test condition. Binocular thresholds were lower than monocular thresholds but only at low pedestal contrasts. Monocular and half-binocular thresholds were similar at low pedestal contrasts, but half-binocular thresholds became higher and closer to dichoptic thresholds as pedestal contrast increased. Adding the decremental target reduced thresholds by a factor of two or more-a strong sign of opponency-when the decrement was in the same eye as the increment or the opposite eye. We compared several computational models fitted to the data. Converging evidence from the present and previous studies (Gorea, Conway, & Blake, 2001) suggests that motion opponency is most likely to be monocular, occurring before direction-specific binocular summation and before divisive, binocular gain control.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009038 Motion Physical motion, i.e., a change in position of a body or subject as a result of an external force. It is distinguished from MOVEMENT, a process resulting from biological activity. Motions
D009039 Motion Perception The real or apparent movement of objects through the visual field. Movement Perception,Perception, Motion,Perception, Movement
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012684 Sensory Thresholds The minimum amount of stimulus energy necessary to elicit a sensory response. Sensory Threshold,Threshold, Sensory,Thresholds, Sensory
D015348 Vision, Binocular The blending of separate images seen by each eye into one composite image. Binocular Vision
D015350 Contrast Sensitivity The ability to detect sharp boundaries (stimuli) and to detect slight changes in luminance at regions without distinct contours. Psychophysical measurements of this visual function are used to evaluate VISUAL ACUITY and to detect eye disease. Visual Contrast Sensitivity,Sensitivity, Contrast,Sensitivity, Visual Contrast

Related Publications

Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
November 1999, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
January 1989, Vision research,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
April 2000, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
January 2016, Journal of vision,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
January 1978, Perception,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
August 1994, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
January 1985, Vision research,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
January 1982, Vision research,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
January 1994, Vision research,
Goro Maehara, and Robert F Hess, and Mark A Georgeson
November 2021, Scientific reports,
Copied contents to your clipboard!