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Jiang SQ, Chen YR, Liu XY, Zhang JY. Contour integration deficits at high spatial frequencies in children treated for anisometropic amblyopia. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1160853. [PMID: 37564367 PMCID: PMC10411894 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1160853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose This study was conducted to reexamine the question of whether children treated for anisometropic amblyopia have contour integration deficits. To do so, we used psychophysical methods that require global contour processing while minimizing the influence of low-level deficits: visibility, shape perception, and positional uncertainty. Methods Thirteen children with anisometropic amblyopia (age: 10.1 ± 1.8 years) and thirteen visually normal children (age: 10.8 ± 2.0 years) participated in this study. The stimuli were closed figures made up of Gabor patches either in noise or on a blank field. The contrast thresholds to detect a circular contour on a blank field, as well as the thresholds of aspect ratio and contour element number to discriminate a circular or elliptical contour in noise, were measured at Gabor spatial frequencies of 1.5, 3, and 6 cpd for amblyopic eyes (AEs), fellow eyes (FEs), and normal control eyes. Visual acuities and contrast sensitivity functions for AEs and FEs and the Randot stereoacuity were measured before testing. Results The AEs showed contrast deficits and degraded shape perception compared to the FEs at higher spatial frequencies (6 cpd). When the influence of abnormal contrast sensitivity and shape perception were minimized, the AEs showed contour integration deficits at spatial frequencies 3 and 6 cpd. These deficits were not related to basic losses in contrast sensitivity and acuity, stereoacuity, and visual crowding. Besides, no significant difference was found between the fellow eyes of the amblyopic children and the normal control eyes in the performance of contour integration. Conclusion After eliminating or compensating for the low-level deficits, children treated for anisometropic amblyopia still show contour integration deficits, primarily at higher spatial frequencies, which might reflect the deficits in global processing caused by amblyopia. Contour integration deficits are likely independent of spatial vision deficits. Refractive correction and/or occlusion therapies may not be sufficient to fully restore contour integration deficits, which indicates the need for the development of clinical treatments to recover these deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Qi Jiang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yan-Ru Chen
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiang-Yun Liu
- The Affiliated Tengzhou Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Tengzhou, Shandong, China
| | - Jun-Yun Zhang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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Carrasco M, Myers C, Roberts M. Visual field asymmetries vary between adolescents and adults. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.04.531124. [PMID: 36945488 PMCID: PMC10028823 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.04.531124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/10/2023]
Abstract
For human adults, visual perception varies around isoeccentric locations (with polar angle at a constant distance from the center of gaze). The same visual information yields better performance along the horizontal than vertical meridian (horizontal vertical anisotropy, HVA) and along the lower than upper vertical meridian (vertical meridian asymmetry, VMA). For children, performance is better along the horizontal than vertical meridian (HVA) but does not differ between the lower and the upper vertical meridian. Here, we investigated whether the extent of the HVA varies and the VMA emerges and fully develops during adolescence, or whether the VMA only emerges in adulthood. We found that for adolescents, performance yields both HVA and VMA, but both are less pronounced than those for adults.
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Abstract
Visual perception in human adults varies throughout the visual field, both across eccentricity - decreasing with distance from the center of gaze - and around isoeccentric locations - that is, with polar angle at a constant distance from the center of gaze. At isoeccentric locations, the same visual information yields better performance along the horizontal than vertical meridian (horizontal-vertical anisotropy, HVA) and along the lower than upper vertical meridian (vertical-meridian asymmetry, VMA). These perceptual polar angle asymmetries in adults have been well characterized. Poor perception at upper visual field locations would be particularly detrimental to children: in their perceptual world, given their height, many important events occur above eye level. Developmental aspects of visual perception have been well characterized1, and some basic dimensions, such as contrast sensitivity, continue to develop through childhood2, but there is no research on polar angle asymmetries before adulthood. Here, we investigated whether these asymmetries are present in children, and if so, whether they differ from those of adults. We found clear differences between children and adults in performance around the visual field: the HVA is less pronounced and the VMA is not present for children.
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Contour interpolation: A case study in Modularity of Mind. Cognition 2018; 174:1-18. [PMID: 29407601 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2017] [Revised: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
In his monograph Modularity of Mind (1983), philosopher Jerry Fodor argued that mental architecture can be partly decomposed into computational organs termed modules, which were characterized as having nine co-occurring features such as automaticity, domain specificity, and informational encapsulation. Do modules exist? Debates thus far have been framed very generally with few, if any, detailed case studies. The topic is important because it has direct implications on current debates in cognitive science and because it potentially provides a viable framework from which to further understand and make hypotheses about the mind's structure and function. Here, the case is made for the modularity of contour interpolation, which is a perceptual process that represents non-visible edges on the basis of how surrounding visible edges are spatiotemporally configured. There is substantial evidence that interpolation is domain specific, mandatory, fast, and developmentally well-sequenced; that it produces representationally impoverished outputs; that it relies upon a relatively fixed neural architecture that can be selectively impaired; that it is encapsulated from belief and expectation; and that its inner workings cannot be fathomed through conscious introspection. Upon differentiating contour interpolation from a higher-order contour representational ability ("contour abstraction") and upon accommodating seemingly inconsistent experimental results, it is argued that interpolation is modular to the extent that the initiating conditions for interpolation are strong. As interpolated contours become more salient, the modularity features emerge. The empirical data, taken as a whole, show that at least certain parts of the mind are modularly organized.
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Rokszin AA, Győri-Dani D, Bácsi J, Nyúl LG, Csifcsák G. Tracking changes in spatial frequency sensitivity during natural image processing in school age: an event-related potential study. J Exp Child Psychol 2017; 166:664-678. [PMID: 29128609 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2017] [Revised: 10/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Several studies have shown that behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of processing visual images containing low or high spatial frequency (LSF or HSF) information undergo development after early childhood. However, the maturation of spatial frequency sensitivity during school age has been investigated using abstract stimuli only. The aim of the current study was to assess how LSF and HSF features affect the processing of everyday photographs at the behavioral and electrophysiological levels in children aged 7-15 years and adults. We presented grayscale images containing either animals or vehicles and their luminance-matched modified versions filtered at low or high spatial frequencies. Modulations of classification accuracy, reaction time, and visual event-related potentials (posterior P1 and N1 components) were compared across five developmental groups and three image types. We found disproportionately worse response accuracies for LSF stimuli relative to HSF images in children aged 7 or 8 years, an effect that was accompanied by smaller LSF-evoked P1 amplitudes during this age period. At 7 or 8 years of age, P1 and N1 amplitudes were modulated by HSF and LSF stimuli (P1: HSF > LSF; N1: LSF > HSF), with a gradual shift toward the opposite pattern (P1: LSF > HSF; N1: HSF > LSF) with increasing age. Our results indicate that early cortical processing of both spatial frequency ranges undergo substantial development during school age, with a relative delay of LSF analysis, and underline the utility of our paradigm in tracking the maturation of LSF versus HSF sensitivity in this age group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienn Aranka Rokszin
- Doctoral School of Education, Faculty of Arts, University of Szeged, Petőfi Sándor sgt. 30-34, 6722 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Dóra Győri-Dani
- Department of Applied Pedagogy and Psychology, Institute of Kindergarten and Lower-Primary Education, Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, University of Szeged, Hattyas sor 10, 6725 Szeged, Hungary
| | - János Bácsi
- Juhász Gyula Elementary School of University of Szeged, Boldogasszony sgt. 8, 6725 Szeged, Hungary
| | - László G Nyúl
- Department of Image Processing and Computer Graphics, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Árpád tér 2, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Gábor Csifcsák
- Department of Cognitive and Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Szeged, Egyetem u. 2, 6722 Szeged, Hungary; Department of Psychology, University of Tromsø, Huginbakken 32, 9037 Tromsø, Norway.
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Orekhova EV, Butorina AV, Sysoeva OV, Prokofyev AO, Nikolaeva AY, Stroganova TA. Frequency of gamma oscillations in humans is modulated by velocity of visual motion. J Neurophysiol 2015; 114:244-55. [PMID: 25925324 PMCID: PMC4507959 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00232.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2015] [Accepted: 04/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Gamma oscillations are generated in networks of inhibitory fast-spiking (FS) parvalbumin-positive (PV) interneurons and pyramidal cells. In animals, gamma frequency is modulated by the velocity of visual motion; the effect of velocity has not been evaluated in humans. In this work, we have studied velocity-related modulations of gamma frequency in children using MEG/EEG. We also investigated whether such modulations predict the prominence of the "spatial suppression" effect (Tadin D, Lappin JS, Gilroy LA, Blake R. Nature 424: 312-315, 2003) that is thought to depend on cortical center-surround inhibitory mechanisms. MEG/EEG was recorded in 27 normal boys aged 8-15 yr while they watched high-contrast black-and-white annular gratings drifting with velocities of 1.2, 3.6, and 6.0°/s and performed a simple detection task. The spatial suppression effect was assessed in a separate psychophysical experiment. MEG gamma oscillation frequency increased while power decreased with increasing velocity of visual motion. In EEG, the effects were less reliable. The frequencies of the velocity-specific gamma peaks were 64.9, 74.8, and 87.1 Hz for the slow, medium, and fast motions, respectively. The frequency of the gamma response elicited during slow and medium velocity of visual motion decreased with subject age, whereas the range of gamma frequency modulation by velocity increased with age. The frequency modulation range predicted spatial suppression even after controlling for the effect of age. We suggest that the modulation of the MEG gamma frequency by velocity of visual motion reflects excitability of cortical inhibitory circuits and can be used to investigate their normal and pathological development in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena V Orekhova
- The MEG Centre, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna V Butorina
- The MEG Centre, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga V Sysoeva
- The MEG Centre, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Andrey O Prokofyev
- The MEG Centre, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Tatiana A Stroganova
- The MEG Centre, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
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Taylor G, Hipp D, Moser A, Dickerson K, Gerhardstein P. The development of contour processing: evidence from physiology and psychophysics. Front Psychol 2014; 5:719. [PMID: 25071681 PMCID: PMC4085732 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2014] [Accepted: 06/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Object perception and pattern vision depend fundamentally upon the extraction of contours from the visual environment. In adulthood, contour or edge-level processing is supported by the Gestalt heuristics of proximity, collinearity, and closure. Less is known, however, about the developmental trajectory of contour detection and contour integration. Within the physiology of the visual system, long-range horizontal connections in V1 and V2 are the likely candidates for implementing these heuristics. While post-mortem anatomical studies of human infants suggest that horizontal interconnections reach maturity by the second year of life, psychophysical research with infants and children suggests a considerably more protracted development. In the present review, data from infancy to adulthood will be discussed in order to track the development of contour detection and integration. The goal of this review is thus to integrate the development of contour detection and integration with research regarding the development of underlying neural circuitry. We conclude that the ontogeny of this system is best characterized as a developmentally extended period of associative acquisition whereby horizontal connectivity becomes functional over longer and longer distances, thus becoming able to effectively integrate over greater spans of visual space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gemma Taylor
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Daniel Hipp
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Alecia Moser
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Kelly Dickerson
- US Army Research Laboratory, Department of the Army, RDRL-HRS-D, Aberdeen Proving Grounds MD, USA
| | - Peter Gerhardstein
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York Binghamton, NY, USA
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Liu R, Zhou J, Zhao H, Dai Y, Zhang Y, Tang Y, Zhou Y. Immature visual neural system in children reflected by contrast sensitivity with adaptive optics correction. Sci Rep 2014; 4:4687. [PMID: 24732728 PMCID: PMC3986699 DOI: 10.1038/srep04687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2013] [Accepted: 03/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to explore the neural development status of the visual system of children (around 8 years old) using contrast sensitivity. We achieved this by eliminating the influence of higher order aberrations (HOAs) with adaptive optics correction. We measured HOAs, modulation transfer functions (MTFs) and contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs) of six children and five adults with both corrected and uncorrected HOAs. We found that when HOAs were corrected, children and adults both showed improvements in MTF and CSF. However, the CSF of children was still lower than the adult level, indicating the difference in contrast sensitivity between groups cannot be explained by differences in optical factors. Further study showed that the difference between the groups also could not be explained by differences in non-visual factors. With these results we concluded that the neural systems underlying vision in children of around 8 years old are still immature in contrast sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, and School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Jiawei Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, and School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Haoxin Zhao
- 1] Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China [2] The Key Laboratory on Adaptive Optics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610209, China
| | - Yun Dai
- 1] Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China [2] The Key Laboratory on Adaptive Optics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610209, China
| | - Yudong Zhang
- 1] Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China [2] The Key Laboratory on Adaptive Optics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610209, China
| | - Yong Tang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, and School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Yifeng Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, and School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
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Achromatic luminance contrast sensitivity in X-linked color-deficient observers: an addition to the debate. Vis Neurosci 2013; 31:99-103. [PMID: 24103453 DOI: 10.1017/s0952523813000400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
It is a matter of debate whether X-linked dichromacy is accompanied by enhanced achromatic processing. In the present study, we used sinusoidally modulated achromatic gratings under photopic conditions to compare the contrast sensitivity (CS) of protanopes, deuteranopes, and normal trichromats. 36 male volunteers were examined. CS was tested in static and dynamic conditions at nine different spatial frequencies. The results support the assumption that X-linked color-defective observers are at an advantage in terms of achromatic processing. Both protanopes and deuteranopes had significantly better CS than controls in both the static and the dynamic conditions. In the static condition, the advantage was observed especially at higher spatial frequencies, whereas in the dynamic condition, it was seen also at lower frequencies. The results are interpreted in terms of decreased chromatic modulation of the luminance channel and the early plasticity of the parvocellular system.
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Braunitzer G, Rokszin A, Kóbor J, Nagy A, Sztriha L, Benedek G. Development of visual contour integration in children with migraine without aura. Cephalalgia 2011; 31:1048-56. [DOI: 10.1177/0333102411410611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Introduction: As migraine attacks pose insult to cerebral circulation and ion homeostasis, migraine has the potential to interfere with the development of different brain structures, producing functional deficits. It is known that visual contour integration (CI) is a function with a protracted development. Therefore, we sought to establish whether migraine interferes with its development. Methods: Forty-eight migraineurs (without aura) and 48 age- and sex-matched controls participated in the study, divided into three cohorts by age. Stimuli were presented on cards with a contour consisting of Gabor patches embedded in random noise. Difficulty was varied by the manipulation of relative noise density. The task was to identify and show the contour. Results: A significant difference was found between the performance of migraineurs and controls in the 10–14-year-old and 15–18-year-old cohorts ( p < 0.05). Development between all three cohorts was significant in the control group ( p < 0.017), while it was not significant in migraineurs between 6 and 14 years. Correlation between age and CI threshold was stronger in controls than in migraineurs. Conclusion: Children with paediatric migraine exhibited a less marked development in the Gabor patch-based CI task.
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