Lateral inhibition between orientation detectors in the human visual system

Predicting coding function from nucleotide sequence or survival of "fitness" of tRNA

The sequence of a nucleotide region of f1 bacteriophage was determined on a bonded ultrathin acrylamide gel with a discontinuous buffer system by using the dideoxy-DNA sequencing method. This sequence and one other were analyzed for maximal base pairing with tRNAs. The results allow a prediction of the direction and phase of possible coding functions. The implication of sequence constraints on mRNA codon frequency, tRNA structure, the origin of protein synthesis, and triplet reading are discussed in terms of neutral, Darwinian, and genotypic selectionist perspectives of evolution. The model of F. H. C. Crick, S. Brenner, A. Klug, and G. Pieczenik [(1976) Origins of Life 7, 389-397] for the origin of the genetic code is used to interpet contemporary adaptive and functional nucleic acid sequences.

A simultaneous shift in apparent direction: further evidence for a "distribution-shift" model of direction coding

When two superimposed moving dot fields are presented simultaneously, their axes of movement appear shifted away from each other. The shift only occurs when the two directions are within 90° of each other, and is directly comparable to that which results from adapting to one and testing on the other direction. This effect is taken as further evidence for a distribution-shift model in the direction domain. It is argued that the currently accepted model of movement detection, which restricts itself to comparisons only between oppositely-tuned direction detectors, should be elaborated to include comparisons across a very wide range of detectors.

Adapting to two orientations: disinhibition in a visual aftereffect

The tilt aftereffect of adapating to two different orientations simultaneously is weaker than the aftereffect of adapting to the more effective of the two orientations alone. This finding is consistent with explanations of orientational after-effects in terms of lateral inhibition between cortical orientation detectors, but not with explanations in terms of neural "fatigue" from excitation.

Inhibition of--but not between--orientation detectors: a theoretical note on illusions of direction

In accounting for illusions of direction, many current models assume lateral inhibition among orientation detectors; however, that assumption is unnecessary. Rather, the illusions can be predicted by a model based on the pattern of inhibition and excitation across orientation detectors as caused by a single stimulus line. From the collective effects of multiple stimulus lines, a pattern of excitation and inhibition results which is perceived as an illusion of direction. This collective effect is predicted by convoluting a function representing physical orientation of stimulus lines with a function representing the pattern of inhibition and excitation elicited by a single line. Both perceived angle-expansion (repulsion) and perceived angle-contraction (attraction) are generated by the model.

Angle-matching illusions and perceived line orientation

Spatial illusions which occur in angle-matching tasks were examined in six experiments using two different kinds of display. In experiments 1 and 2 illusory errors generally were in the direction predicted by Lennie's hypothesis which states that angle arms are attracted perceptually towards the oblique axes of space, although the display used in these experiments differed from Lennie's. However, experiment 3 showed that these errors might equally be explained by the addition of interactive effects between angle arms (tilt illusions). Parametric investigation of Lennie's figures (experiments 4 and 5) showed that thelargest angular illusion occurred with the largest angle used (45 degrees) and an intermediate line length (2 deg 7 min). These angular illusions were not explicable by the addition of tilt illusions (experiment 6), suggesting that different judgmental processes may underlie orientation and angle estimation.

Mutual repulsion between moving visual targets

When two spatially intermingled sets of random dots move in different directions, the direction of each set may be misperceived. Observers report that each set of dots appears to move in a direction displaced by as much as 20 degrees from the direction of its companion set. Probably the result of inhibitory interactions, this mutual repulsion occurs at a central site in the visual system and may normally enhance discrimination of direction.

A comparison of visual tilt illusions measured by the techniques of verticle setting, parallel matching, and dot alignment

The tilt illusion (TI) was investigated by using both short (19 min) and long (2 deg 6 min) test lines, at three angles of test line-inducing line separation (15 degrees, 45 degrees, and 75 degrees). Three groups of ten observers each provided data under one of three task conditions: vertical judgment, parallel matching, and dot alignment on a common visual display. The main result was that both the vertical judgment and the parallel matching task provided similar, classic TI angular functions with the means ordered 15 degrees greater than 45 degrees greater than 75 degrees and with small attraction effects at 75 degrees in three of the four relevant functions. The third task, dot alignment, yielded results different from the average of the other two: no attraction effects occurred and, with the short test line, the obtained mean illusion at 45 degrees exceeded those at the other intersect angles. These results are consistent with alignment data reported by others. One explanation is that the inducing line produces an apparent bowing of the test line which would be reflected in dot alignments but not in vertical setting or in parallel matching. However, direct evidence does not support this hypothesis. An alternate hypothesis, for which independent evidence exists, is that alignment errors reflect perceptual mistracking but that the origin of these errors is not the tip of the test line but within it. Although this does not explain dot alignment errors, it highlights their complexity and the need to interpret them with caution.

In defence of a ratio model for movement detection at threshold

Sutherland (1961) proposed that the detection of motion might depend upon the ratios of firings in cells sensitive to movement in opposite directions. Sekuler and his collaborators have argued that the notion of a ratio mechanism at threshold is wrong. The findings and arguments upon which this conclusion was based are challenged, an explicit model is described which provides an account of data previously held to be inconsistent with a ratio model, and an experiment is reported which provides unequivocal support for the ratio model and whose findings are inconsistent with the predictions from Sekuler's “independence” model.

Orientation-selective inhibition and binocular rivalry

It is hypothesized that a negative correlation exists between the readiness with which two visual stimuli display rivalry and the magnitude of the inhibition effects between the corresponding neural channels. With binocular rivalry being more readily observed than monocular rivalry, it is predicted that lateral inhibition between neural channels selectively sensitive to such fundamental parameters as orientation, is primarily confined to those monocularly driven channels deriving their sensory input from the same eye. In confirmation, it is shown that the visual tilt illusion, thought to reflect lateral inhibition between orientation-sensitive channels, is very much reduced under dichoptic viewing conditions. Moreover, it is shown that those subjects displaying the greatest interocular transfer of the illusion least readily experience binocular rivalry.

The geometry of the correspondence between two retinal projections

Since each retinal projection of an object has some definite geometric relation to it, the two projections of a same object are related to each other. The correspondences between points, linear segments, and orientations on the two retinas are discussed thoroughly in three-dimensional geometry, and the constraints that tie the projections (the 'projective invariants') are presented. Some widely held conceptions on disparity or the ambiguity problem in binocular stereopsis appear to be based upon representation that are correct in particular situations, but are misleading in the general case. I suggest that in order to achieve binocular stereopsis, the brain does not proceed by complete trial and error, but may guide its search for correspondences by taking advantage of the geometric constraints. There are at least four major possible strategies: (i) a metric strategy, as initially proposed by Julesz; (ii) a projective strategy based on the law of invariance of the anharmonic ratio and Desargue's theorem; (iii) a perspective strategy discussed in relation to the homology relationships between vanishing points and in relation to physiological studies on cells of visual cortex; and (iv) a more dynamic strategy based upon the geometric properties of the Zöllner illusion.

Expanding angles? Systematic distortions of space involving angular figures

Using simple, single angular figures, including figures containing only one line, we have shown systematic misestimations of distance defined by these figures. These misestimations are not related to the absolute distance per se, but are related both to the size of the angle defining the distance, and to the part of the angle defining it. Some implications of these findings are discussed.

Orientation masking and the tilt illusion with subjective contours

Exposure to one edge renders another edge less visible as a function of relative orientation. Experiment 1 showed that orientation-selective masking occurs between phenomenal edges located at sites where the visual display is homogeneous (subjective contours) as well as between edges defined in terms of luminance discontinuity (real edges). In addition, real contours can be masked by subjective contours, and vice-versa. In experiment 2 it was found that the tilt illusion (apparent expansion of the angle formed by intersecting lines) can be induced with subjective as well as with real contours. These results suggest that it is inappropriate to attribute the perception of real and subjective contours to fundamentally different processes.

Feature analysers, optical illusions, and figural aftereffects

Simple displacement models cannot explain some aspects of optical illusions and figural aftereffects. The orientation-detector interaction model proposed by Blakemore and others is more suitable to explain many aspects of the Zöllner illusion, positive and negative illusions, the effect of gap between the inducing and test lines, and the anisotropy of illusions. If we hypothesize size detectors whose tuning width and distribution steps are proportional to logarithmic size, interactions between them explain well the fact that the Delboeuf illusion and figural aftereffects of circles are determined by the size of the inducing to test circle, not by the absolute distance between the contours of these circles.

A physiological and behavioural study in cats of the effect of early visual experience with contours of a single orientation

1. Three kittens were reared in visual environments that consisted of stripes at one of three orientations - horizontal, right oblique, or left oblique. Two additional cats were reared as controls. One of these matured viewing right and left oblique stripes on alternate days. The other experienced a normal visual environment. 2. Following the completion of rearing, and after several weeks of normal visual experience, behavioural testing of the stripe-reared animals demonstrated a deficit in visual acuity for orientations which were not present in the early visual environment. No comparable deficit emerged for either of the control cats. 3. Following 1-3 years of further, normal, visual experience, each of the cats was shipped separately to California where single units were recorded from area 17 of the visual cortex and an effort made to guess the early visual history of each animal which was unknown to the experimenters. Cell samples from each experimental cat and the normal control cat allowed the physiologist to guess their early visual experience correctly. The control cat which matured viewing orthogonal sets of oblique stripes on alternate days demonstrated a bias for horizontal contours in his cell sample. In contrast to units recorded from normal cats, about 80% of which are binocular, only about 30% of the cells recorded from the stripe-reared animals could be influenced by both eyes.

Psychohysical hallucinations of orientation and spatial frequency

After inspection of vertical sinusoidal gratings at least three distinct types of subjective or "hallucinated" patterns can be seen on a uniform test field. One type, here called horizontal streaming (H), is already well-known from the work of MacKay. A second type (V) looks like aroughly sinusoidal grating about 1-5 octaves above the adapting spitial frequency. Under optimal conditions a second vertical component appears at about 2 octaves below the adapting frequency. The third category of aftereffect consists of diagonal lines (D) at two orientations (about +/-40 degrees from vertical). The spatial-frequency band at these two orientations appears to be fairly broad, but roughly similar to the adapting frequency. The duration and strength of D increased, while V declined, at higher adapting spatial frequencies. D and V were increasing functions of adapting contrast, while H appeared abruptly only after the highest adapting contrast. H, D, and V are thus all functionally distinct. A schematic model of cortical organization is proposed to account for these phenomena. Pattern channels selective for a given orientation are grouped together with movement channels selective for the orthogonal direction. Antagonism between channels within such "modules" accounts for the streaming effect (H). Inhibition between modules tuned to different orientations and spatial frequencies accounts for the D and V effects: after adaptation of channels in one module, neighbouring module(s) are released from inhibition to produce a spurious response which is seen as a grating-like object in the adapted part of the visual field. During flickering adaptation a "halluncinated" lattice can be seen superimposed on the adapting grating. It apparently consists of Fourier components more remote from the adapting pattern than D and V are. This disinhibitory effect is strong confirmation of the inhibitory model. The regular and highly organized matrix of channels implied by these experiments may constitute a cortical hypercolumn conducting a coarse, piecewise Fourier transformation of the retinal image.

The detection of gratings by independent activation of line detectors

1. The visibility of composite stimuli (double lines, multiple lines and sinusoidal gratings) is analysed in terms of the visibility of single lines. 2. The detection mechanisms for the composite stimuli were examined by measuring the probabilities for seeing these stimuli, the probabilites of "recognition" near their detection thresholds and by using the method of subthreshold summation. 3. The simplest composite stimulus consists of two lines spaced apart by 15 min; it was found that both the probability of seeing this stimulus and the probability of reporting either one or two lines may largely be explained by assuming independent detection of the two lines. For a 12 min spacing some antagonistic interaction was observed between the two lines, confirming the existence of an antagonistic surround in the line detector. 4. The probability of seeing a multiple line target (rectangular grating) of spacing 15 min is slightly greater than that predicted assuming independent detection of its component lines; this probability can be calculated from the probabilities of seeing a central line (near the fixation point) and pairs of lines spaced 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 min on either side of the fixation point. The observed threshold for the grating was about 0.05 log units less than the prediction. 5. The probability that a subject reports only one line from a rectangular grating was found to be consistent with independent detection of its component lines when the subject used a low (detection) threshold criterion but not for higher criteria. 6. The spatial frequencies involved in the detection of the rectangular grating were determined by subthreshold summation; the high spatial frequency selectivity was shown to be consistent with independent detection of the component lines. 7. The detection mechanism for a 4 c/deg sinusoidal grating was found to be similar to that for the 15 min rectangular grating. 8. Evidence is presented that the detection of finer and coarser gratings may be analysed in similar terms. 9. It is shown that lines are not detected by independent activation of sharply tuned grating detectors but that sub-units may be involved which are slightly more narrowly tuned than the line detector. 10. These sub-units contain both inhibitory and disinhibitory regions; the disinhibitory responses may be the basis of the deviations from probability summation noted in 4. 11. The properties of the proposed sub-units are in reasonable accord with the results of adaptation experiments.

On the non-additivity of visual tilt illusions

In Experiment I, the visual tilt illusion induced by two orthogonal lines was found to differ from the sum of the illusions induced by each line independently. The length of one of the orthogonal-inducing lines was varied in Experiment II with the other inducing line remaining a fixed length. As length increased from zero (no line) to 100%, the size of the illusion increased monotonically. The increase in illusion was not due to the increasing length of the variable line alone since, in the absence of the line of fixed length, increasing the length of the variable line produced no significant trend in the illusion (Experiment III).