The Pulfrich phenomenon with eye movement

The Pulfrich Phenomenon: Practical Implications of the Assessment of Cases and Effectiveness of Treatment

The Pulfrich phenomenon, originally described in normal observers, is a treatable disorder of the perception of movement in depth in cases of unilateral or asymmetric optic neuropathy. Treatment is highly bespoke and factors influencing treatment response and failure remain unclear. We assessed 25 adults with suspected Pulfrich phenomenon due to a range of conditions in two tertiary referral centres. Monocularly tinted spectacles were successful in reducing symptoms of the Pulfrich phenomenon under daylight conditions in nine subjects, eight of whom had optic neuritis. These spectacles were not effective at night and in patients with visual field defects due to ischaemic optic neuropathy, glaucoma, optic disc drusen or severe peripapillary retinal nerve fibre loss on optical coherence tomography.

An opaque surface influences the depth from the Pulfrich phenomenon

When a pendulum, swinging in a frontoparallel plane, is viewed with a neutral density filter before one eye, the pendulum bob appears to rotate in an elliptical path. This illusion, known as the Pulfrich phenomenon, was used to examine depth cue interaction in a natural environment. An opaque surface was placed behind the pendulum. This intervention put the 'Pulfrich depth' of the pendulum in conflict with the information provided by other depth cues, such as interposition, and observers reported that the 'far' part of the pendulum's Pulfrich trajectory appeared to be flat. This was not the case when the surface was transparent. If the opaque surface was placed farther behind the pendulum's physical path, the far trajectory became increasingly elliptical. These results suggest that the opaque surface influences the pendulum's depth qualitatively and quantitatively. That is, the depth order between the surface and the pendulum is determined by interposition, but the absolute depth of the pendulum's Pulfrich trajectory is constrained by the surface's depth.

The hierarchical nature of perceiving direction of motion in depth from optic flow

Monocular adaptation to flow fields of optic expansion and contraction juxtaposed on either side of fixation influenced subsequently perceived rotation direction of a figure rotating in depth (kinetic depth effect) about its vertical axis with a normally ambiguous direction. This influence was shown to be asymmetric since adapting to optic expansion produced significantly more aftereffects of translation in depth than did adapting to perceived rotation in depth when viewing a neutral test stimulus. The results are evidence for a hierarchical processing model for the perception of motion in depth from optic flow. Serendipitously, we discovered a new aftereffect from viewing kinetic depth rotation with direction specified by proximity-luminance covariation (PLC). The results and other research are discussed in terms of neural network models with synergistic interactions between levels.

Impaired perception of moving objects after minor injuries to the eye and midface: the Pulfrich phenomenon

Delayed conduction along one optic nerve can result in an incorrect appreciation of moving objects. The temporal mismatch between the two different pathways results in altered perception of the vector of a moving target and is known as 'the Pulfrich phenomenon'. This is a well-recognised handicap in patients with multiple sclerosis, but has not previously been reported as a consequence of injury. All 187 patients who presented during 1991 with reduced visual acuity as a result of midfacial injuries were examined with a pendulum. Six had the defect and five of these had symptoms. In each case the patients were disturbed by car travel, because they perceived oncoming traffic moving in a hyperbolic curve towards them. These patients have been examined in detail and given a tinted lens for the normal eye to eliminate the illusion by delaying the input from the normal side to equal that on the damaged side. We recommend that this phenomenon is sought in all patients with mid-facial injuries or with later evidence of mild traumatic optic neuropathy, particularly if they are disturbed by car travel.

The Pulfrich phenomenon and its alleviation with a neutral density filter

A case is described in which a presumed vascular accident resulted in long-standing visual difficulties in both reading and the analysis of vectors of moving objects. Clinical examination revealed minimal right optic atrophy with a relative superior altitudinal visual field defect associated with a positive Pulfrich effect. A partial head turn to the right in association with paresis of saccades and pursuit eye movements to the right was also evident. Spectacles for distance which incorporated a neutral density filter before the left eye were prescribed. These practically eliminated the Pulfrich effect and alleviated the problems of vector analysis. A near correction was provided which incorporated prisms with bases to the right. This eliminated the reading difficulties. The visual problems experienced by patients suffering from a positive Pulfrich effect are described and discussed.

On Pulfrich-illusion eye movements and accommodation vergence during visual pursuit

When the Pulfrich illusion is perceived with stationary fixation, and visual pursuit of the pendulum is then initiated, rapid vergence changes occur which correspond to the illusory elliptical path. During steady-state visual tracking of the illusion, however, the eyes move along a planar path without systematic changes in vergence. These latter pursuit movements with monocular filter involve large fixation disparities relative to unobstructed vision (0.5 degree to 1 degree divergence); hence, it is proposed that the planar tracking path probably results from strong dominance of the oculomotor system by stimuli from the unobstructed eye. During visual tracking with monocular filter and a target moving along a nonillusory elliptical path in depth, appropriate changes in vergence occur, but comparable vergence changes also arise when the target is fully hidden from one eye. This response apparently represents a superposition of accommodation vergence upon smooth pursuit movements; similar responses also occur during monocular tracking of a target moving around a circular path in depth.