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Laeng B, Nabil S, Kitaoka A. Tunnel motion: Pupil dilations to optic flow within illusory dark holes. Perception 2024; 53:730-745. [PMID: 39196577 PMCID: PMC11451077 DOI: 10.1177/03010066241270493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 08/29/2024]
Abstract
We showed to the same observers both dynamic and static 2D patterns that can both evoke distinctive perceptions of motion or optic flow, as if moving in a tunnel or into a dark hole. At all times pupil diameters were monitored with an infrared eye tracker. We found a converging set of results indicating stronger pupil dilations to expansive growth of shapes or optic flows evoking a forward motion into a dark tunnel. Multiple regression analyses showed that the pupil responses to the illusory expanding black holes of static patterns were predicted by the individuals' pupil response to optic flows showing spiraling motion or "free fall" into a black hole. Also, individuals' pupil responses to spiraling motion into dark tunnels predicted the individuals' sense of illusory expansion with the static, illusory expanding, dark holes. This correspondence across individuals between their pupil responses to both dynamic and static, illusory expanding, holes suggests that these percepts reflect a common perceptual mechanism, deriving motion from 2D scenes, and that the observers' pupil adjustments reflect the direction and strength of motion they perceive and the expected outcome of an increase in darkness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Laeng
- University of Oslo, Norway; RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Shoaib Nabil
- University of Oslo, Norway; University of Sussex, UK
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2
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Durand JB, Marchand S, Nasres I, Laeng B, De Castro V. Illusory light drives pupil responses in primates. J Vis 2024; 24:14. [PMID: 39046721 PMCID: PMC11271809 DOI: 10.1167/jov.24.7.14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/25/2024] Open
Abstract
In humans, the eye pupils respond to both physical light sensed by the retina and mental representations of light produced by the brain. Notably, our pupils constrict when a visual stimulus is illusorily perceived brighter, even if retinal illumination is constant. However, it remains unclear whether such perceptual penetrability of pupil responses is an epiphenomenon unique to humans or whether it represents an adaptive mechanism shared with other animals to anticipate variations in retinal illumination between successive eye fixations. To address this issue, we measured the pupil responses of both humans and macaque monkeys exposed to three chromatic versions (cyan, magenta, and yellow) of the Asahi brightness illusion. We found that the stimuli illusorily perceived brighter or darker trigger differential pupil responses that are very similar in macaques and human participants. Additionally, we show that this phenomenon exhibits an analogous cyan bias in both primate species. Beyond evincing the macaque monkey as a relevant model to study the perceptual penetrability of pupil responses, our results suggest that this phenomenon is tuned to ecological conditions because the exposure to a "bright cyan-bluish sky" may be associated with increased risks of dazzle and retinal damages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Baptiste Durand
- Université de Toulouse, Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Toulouse, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
| | - Sarah Marchand
- Université de Toulouse, Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Toulouse, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
| | - Ilyas Nasres
- Université de Toulouse, Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Toulouse, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
| | - Bruno Laeng
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Vanessa De Castro
- Université de Toulouse, Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Toulouse, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
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3
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Laeng B, Nabil S, Kitaoka A. The Eye Pupil Adjusts to Illusorily Expanding Holes. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:877249. [PMID: 35706480 PMCID: PMC9190027 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.877249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Some static patterns evoke the perception of an illusory expanding central region or “hole.” We asked observers to rate the magnitudes of illusory motion or expansion of black holes, and these predicted the degree of dilation of the pupil, measured with an eye tracker. In contrast, when the “holes” were colored (including white), i.e., emitted light, these patterns constricted the pupils, but the subjective expansions were also weaker compared with the black holes. The change rates of pupil diameters were significantly related to the illusory motion phenomenology only with the black holes. These findings can be accounted for within a perceiving-the-present account of visual illusions, where both the illusory motion and the pupillary adjustments represent compensatory mechanisms to the perception of the next moment, based on shared experiences with the ecological regularities of light.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Laeng
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- *Correspondence: Bruno Laeng,
| | - Shoaib Nabil
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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4
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Nigalye AK, Hess K, Pundlik SJ, Jeffrey BG, Cukras CA, Husain D. Dark Adaptation and Its Role in Age-Related Macular Degeneration. J Clin Med 2022; 11:jcm11051358. [PMID: 35268448 PMCID: PMC8911214 DOI: 10.3390/jcm11051358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Dark adaptation (DA) refers to the slow recovery of visual sensitivity in darkness following exposure to intense or prolonged illumination, which bleaches a significant amount of the rhodopsin. This natural process also offers an opportunity to understand cellular function in the outer retina and evaluate for presence of disease. How our eyes adapt to darkness can be a key indicator of retinal health, which can be altered in the presence of certain diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A specific focus on clinical aspects of DA measurement and its significance to furthering our understanding of AMD has revealed essential findings underlying the pathobiology of the disease. The process of dark adaptation involves phototransduction taking place mainly between the photoreceptor outer segments and the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) layer. DA occurs over a large range of luminance and is modulated by both cone and rod photoreceptors. In the photopic ranges, rods are saturated and cone cells adapt to the high luminance levels. However, under scotopic ranges, cones are unable to respond to the dim luminance and rods modulate the responses to lower levels of light as they can respond to even a single photon. Since the cone visual cycle is also based on the Muller cells, measuring the impairment in rod-based dark adaptation is thought to be particularly relevant to diseases such as AMD, which involves both photoreceptors and RPE. Dark adaptation parameters are metrics derived from curve-fitting dark adaptation sensitivities over time and can represent specific cellular function. Parameters such as the cone-rod break (CRB) and rod intercept time (RIT) are particularly sensitive to changes in the outer retina. There is some structural and functional continuum between normal aging and the AMD pathology. Many studies have shown an increase of the rod intercept time (RIT), i.e., delays in rod-mediated DA in AMD patients with increasing disease severity determined by increased drusen grade, pigment changes and the presence of subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD) and association with certain morphological features in the peripheral retina. Specifications of spatial testing location, repeatability of the testing, ease and availability of the testing device in clinical settings, and test duration in elderly population are also important. We provide a detailed overview in light of all these factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Archana K. Nigalye
- Retina Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, USA;
| | - Kristina Hess
- National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (K.H.); (B.G.J.)
| | - Shrinivas J. Pundlik
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology, Boston, MA 02114, USA;
| | - Brett G. Jeffrey
- National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (K.H.); (B.G.J.)
| | - Catherine A. Cukras
- National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; (K.H.); (B.G.J.)
- Correspondence: (C.A.C.); (D.H.); Tel.: +1-(301)435-5061 (C.A.C.); +1-617-573-4371 (D.H.); Fax: +1-617-573-3698 (D.H.)
| | - Deeba Husain
- Retina Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, USA;
- Correspondence: (C.A.C.); (D.H.); Tel.: +1-(301)435-5061 (C.A.C.); +1-617-573-4371 (D.H.); Fax: +1-617-573-3698 (D.H.)
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5
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Franconeri SL, Padilla LM, Shah P, Zacks JM, Hullman J. The Science of Visual Data Communication: What Works. Psychol Sci Public Interest 2021; 22:110-161. [PMID: 34907835 DOI: 10.1177/15291006211051956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Effectively designed data visualizations allow viewers to use their powerful visual systems to understand patterns in data across science, education, health, and public policy. But ineffectively designed visualizations can cause confusion, misunderstanding, or even distrust-especially among viewers with low graphical literacy. We review research-backed guidelines for creating effective and intuitive visualizations oriented toward communicating data to students, coworkers, and the general public. We describe how the visual system can quickly extract broad statistics from a display, whereas poorly designed displays can lead to misperceptions and illusions. Extracting global statistics is fast, but comparing between subsets of values is slow. Effective graphics avoid taxing working memory, guide attention, and respect familiar conventions. Data visualizations can play a critical role in teaching and communication, provided that designers tailor those visualizations to their audience.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lace M Padilla
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced
| | - Priti Shah
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan
| | - Jeffrey M Zacks
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis
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6
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Lerer A, Supèr H, Keil MS. Dynamic decorrelation as a unifying principle for explaining a broad range of brightness phenomena. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1007907. [PMID: 33901165 PMCID: PMC8102013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2020] [Revised: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual system is highly sensitive to spatial context for encoding luminance patterns. Context sensitivity inspired the proposal of many neural mechanisms for explaining the perception of luminance (brightness). Here we propose a novel computational model for estimating the brightness of many visual illusions. We hypothesize that many aspects of brightness can be explained by a dynamic filtering process that reduces the redundancy in edge representations on the one hand, while non-redundant activity is enhanced on the other. The dynamic filter is learned for each input image and implements context sensitivity. Dynamic filtering is applied to the responses of (model) complex cells in order to build a gain control map. The gain control map then acts on simple cell responses before they are used to create a brightness map via activity propagation. Our approach is successful in predicting many challenging visual illusions, including contrast effects, assimilation, and reverse contrast with the same set of model parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Lerer
- Departament de Cognició, Desenvolupament i Psicologia de l’Educació, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Hans Supèr
- Departament de Cognició, Desenvolupament i Psicologia de l’Educació, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Pediàtrica Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institute for Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Matthias S. Keil
- Departament de Cognició, Desenvolupament i Psicologia de l’Educació, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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7
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Sulutvedt U, Zavagno D, Lubell J, Leknes S, de Rodez Benavent SA, Laeng B. Brightness perception changes related to pupil size. Vision Res 2020; 178:41-47. [PMID: 33113435 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Dilating the pupils allow more quanta of light to impact the retina. Consequently, if one pupil is dilated with a pharmacological agent (Tropicamide), the brightness of a surface under observation should increase proportionally to the pupil dilation. Little is known about causal effects of changes in pupil size on perception of an object's brightness. In a psychophysical procedure of brightness adjustment and matching, we presented to one eye geometrical patterns with a central square (the reference pattern) that differed in physical brightness within backgrounds of constant luminance. Subsequently, with the other eye, participants (n = 30) adjusted to the same luminance a similar pattern (target) whose central square luminance was randomly set higher or lower in brightness than the reference. As only one eye was treated with Tropicamide, we assessed whether the subjective brightness of the target square shifted in a consistent direction when viewed with the dilated pupil compared to the untreated (control) eye. We found that, as the pupil increased post drug administration, so significantly did the sense of brightness of the pattern (i.e., higher brightness adjustments followed viewing the reference pattern with the treated (Tropicamide) eye). A reversed effect was observed when the control eye viewed the reference pattern first. The results confirm that even slight pupil dilations can result in an enhanced perceptual experience of brightness of the attended object, corresponding to an average increase of 2.09 cd/m2 for each 1 mm increase in pupil diameter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unni Sulutvedt
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Daniele Zavagno
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Jamie Lubell
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Siri Leknes
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Sigrid A de Rodez Benavent
- Department of Ophthalmology, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Bruno Laeng
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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8
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Aulet LS, Lourenco SF. Numerosity and cumulative surface area are perceived holistically as integral dimensions. J Exp Psychol Gen 2020; 150:145-156. [PMID: 32567881 DOI: 10.1037/xge0000874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Human and nonhuman animals have a remarkable capacity to rapidly estimate the quantity of objects in the environment. The dominant view of this ability posits an abstract numerosity code, uncontaminated by nonnumerical visual information. The present study provides novel evidence in contradiction to this view by demonstrating that number and cumulative surface area are perceived holistically, classically known as integral dimensions. Whether assessed explicitly (Experiment 1) or implicitly (Experiment 2), perceived similarity for dot arrays that varied parametrically in number and cumulative area was best modeled by Euclidean, as opposed to city-block, distance within the stimulus space, comparable to other integral dimensions (brightness/saturation and radial frequency components) but different from separable dimensions (shape/color and brightness/size). Moreover, Euclidean distance remained the best-performing model, even when compared to models that controlled for other magnitude properties (e.g., density) or image similarity. These findings suggest that numerosity perception entails the obligatory processing of nonnumerical magnitude. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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9
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Kanari K, Kaneko H. Effect of Spatial Structure Defined by Binocular Disparity with Uniform Luminance on Lightness. Perception 2019; 49:3-20. [PMID: 31821778 DOI: 10.1177/0301006619892754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We examined whether lightness is determined based on the experience of the relationship between a scene’s illumination and its spatial structure in actual environments. For this purpose, we measured some characteristics of scene structure and the illuminance in actual scenes and found some correlations between them. In the psychophysical experiments, a random-dot stereogram consisting of dots with uniform distribution was used to eliminate the effects of local luminance and texture contrasts. Participants matched the lightness of a presented target patch in the stimulus space to that of a comparison patch by adjusting the latter’s luminance. Results showed that the matched luminance tended to increase when the target patch was interpreted as receiving weak illumination in some conditions. These results suggest that the visual system can probably infer a scene’s illumination from a spatial structure without luminance distribution information under an illumination–spatial structure relation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kei Kanari
- Department of Information and Communications Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan; Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hirohiko Kaneko
- Department of Information and Communications Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan
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10
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Matsuno T, Sato Y. Dissociation of perceived size and perceived strength in the scintillating grid illusion. J Vis 2019; 19:15. [PMID: 31747693 DOI: 10.1167/19.13.15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The scintillating grid illusion is a geometric visual illusion where illusory dark spots are perceived on white circular patches that are located at the intersections of a grid pattern. Previous studies have measured the perceived strength of the illusory spots by varying stimulus and viewing conditions, to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the illusion; however, findings remain inconclusive. In the present study, we measured the perceived size of the illusory spots, in addition to their perceived strength, by varying the size of the geometric components and the orientation of the stimulus, to further investigate the mechanism behind this illusion. We found that the dependency of perceived spot size on the change of the stimulus parameters is dissociated from that of the perceived spot strength. The perceived size of the illusory spots linearly correlated with the size of the white patches and was less dependent on the width of the grid bars and the orientation of the stimulus, while the perceived strength was characterized by a quadratic relationship with patch size and bar width and was monotonically modulated depending on the orientation of the stimuli. These results suggest that different factors separately constrain size and strength within the processes that elicit the illusory spots. We propose that the mechanism underlying the scintillating grid illusion is based on the interruption of the surface formation process of white patches by the interference of the orientation signals of gray bars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toyomi Matsuno
- Faculty of Economics, Hosei University, Machida, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yuka Sato
- Faculty of Economics, Hosei University, Machida, Tokyo, Japan
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11
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Suzuki Y, Minami T, Nakauchi S. Pupil Constriction in the Glare Illusion Modulates the Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials. Neuroscience 2019; 416:221-228. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2018] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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12
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Colorful glares: Effects of colors on brightness illusions measured with pupillometry. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 198:102882. [PMID: 31288107 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We hypothesized that pupil constrictions to the glare illusion, where converging luminance gradients subjectively enhance the perception of brightness, would be stronger for 'blue' than for other colors. Such an expectation was based on reflections about the ecology of vision, where the experience of dazzling light is common when one happens to look directly at sunlight through some occluders. Thus, we hypothesized that pupil constrictions to 'blue' reflect an ecologically-based expectation of the visual system from the experience of sky's light and color, which also leads to interpret the blue gradients of illusory glare to act as effective cues to impending probable intense light. We therefore manipulated the gradients color of glare illusions and measured changes in subjective brightness of identical shape stimuli. We confirmed that the blue resulted in what was subjectively evaluated as the brightest condition, despite all colored stimuli were equiluminant. This enhanced brightness effect was observed both in a psychophysical adjustment task and in changes in pupil size, where the maximum pupil constriction peak was observed with the 'blue' converging gradients over and above to the pupil response to blue in other conditions (i.e., diverging gradients and homogeneous patches). Moreover, glare-related pupil constrictions for each participant were correlated to each individual's subjective brightness adjustments. Homogenous blue hues also constricted the pupil more than other hues, which represents a pupillometric analog of the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect on brightness perception. Together, these findings show that pupillometry constitutes an easy tool to assess individual differences in color brightness perception.
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13
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Laeng B, Kiambarua KG, Hagen T, Bochynska A, Lubell J, Suzuki H, Okubo M. The "face race lightness illusion": An effect of the eyes and pupils? PLoS One 2018; 13:e0201603. [PMID: 30071065 PMCID: PMC6072068 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In an internet-based, forced-choice, test of the ‘face race lightness illusion’, the majority of respondents, regardless of their ethnicity, reported perceiving the African face as darker in skin tone than the European face, despite the mean luminance, contrast and numbers of pixels of the images were identical. In the laboratory, using eye tracking, it was found that eye fixations were distributed differently on the African face and European face, so that gaze dwelled relatively longer onto the locally brighter regions of the African face and, in turn, mean pupil diameters were smaller than for the European face. There was no relationship between pupils’ size and implicit social attitude (IAT) scores. In another experiment, the faces were presented either tachistoscopically (140 ms) or longer (2500 ms) so that, when gaze was prevented from looking directly at the faces in the former condition, the tendency to report the African face as “dark” disappeared, but it was present when gaze was free to move for just a few seconds. We conclude that the presence of the illusion depends on oculomotor behavior and we also propose a novel account based on a predictive strategy of sensory acquisition. Specifically, by differentially directing gaze towards to facial regions that are locally different in luminance, the resulting changes in retinal illuminance yield respectively darker or brighter percepts while attending to each face, hence minimizing the mismatch between visual input and the learned perceptual prototypes of ethnic categories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Laeng
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | - Kenneth Gitiye Kiambarua
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Kenya Methodist University, Meru, Kenya
| | - Thomas Hagen
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Agata Bochynska
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Language and Literature, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Jamie Lubell
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, United States of America
| | - Hikaru Suzuki
- Department of Psychology, Senshu University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Matia Okubo
- Department of Psychology, Senshu University, Tokyo, Japan
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14
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Zavagno D, Tommasi L, Laeng B. The Eye Pupil's Response to Static and Dynamic Illusions of Luminosity and Darkness. Iperception 2017; 8:2041669517717754. [PMID: 28835810 PMCID: PMC5555513 DOI: 10.1177/2041669517717754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Pupil diameters were recorded with an eye-tracker while participants observed cruciform patterns of gray-scale gradients that evoked illusions of enhanced brightness (glare) or of enhanced darkness. The illusions were either presented as static images or as dynamic animations which initially appeared as a pattern of filled squares that—in a few seconds—gradually changed into gradients until the patterns were identical to the static ones. Gradients could either converge toward the center, resulting in a central region of enhanced, illusory, brightness or darkness, or oriented toward each side of the screen, resulting in the perception of a peripheral ring of illusory brightness or darkness. It was found that pupil responses to these illusions matched both the direction and intensity of perceived changes in light: Glare stimuli resulted in pupil constrictions, and darkness stimuli evoked dilations of the pupils. A second experiment found that gradients of brightness were most effective in constricting the pupils than isoluminant step-luminance, local, variations in luminance. This set of findings suggest that the eye strategically adjusts to reflect in a predictive manner, given that these brightness illusions only suggest a change in luminance when none has occurred, the content within brightness maps of the visual scene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Zavagno
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
| | - Luca Tommasi
- Department of Psychological Science, Health and Territory, University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
| | - Bruno Laeng
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway
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15
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Takanami K, Inoue K, Mukai H, Tamura K, Jogahara T, Oda SI, Kawata M, Sakamoto T, Sakamoto H. Comparative Anatomy of Gastrin-releasing Peptide Pathways in the Trigeminal Sensory System of Mouse and the Asian House Musk Shrew Suncus murinus. Acta Histochem Cytochem 2016; 49:181-190. [PMID: 28127106 PMCID: PMC5263228 DOI: 10.1267/ahc.16030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/09/2016] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) has recently been identified as an itch-signaling molecule in the primary afferents and spinal cord of rodents. However, little information exists on the expression and localization of GRP in the trigeminal somatosensory system other than in rats. We examined the generality of the trigeminal GRP system in mammals using two distinct species, suncus as a model of specialized placental mammals known to have a well-developed trigeminal sensory system and mice as a representative small laboratory animal. We first analyzed the gross morphology of the trigeminal somatosensory system in suncus to provide a brainstem atlas on which to map GRP distribution. Immunohistochemical analyses showed that 8% of trigeminal ganglion neurons in suncus and 6% in mice expressed GRP. Expression was restricted to cells with smaller somata. The GRP-containing fibers were densely distributed in the superficial layers of the caudal part of the trigeminal spinal nucleus (Vc) but rare in the rostral parts, both in suncus and mice. Expression of GRP receptor mRNA and protein was also detected in the Vc of suncus. Taken together, these results suggest that the trigeminal GRP system mediating itch sensation is conserved in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Takanami
- Ushimado Marine Institute (UMI), Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University
- Anatomy and Neurobiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
| | - Kaihei Inoue
- Anatomy and Neurobiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
| | - Hiroki Mukai
- Anatomy and Neurobiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
| | - Kei Tamura
- Ushimado Marine Institute (UMI), Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University
| | - Takamichi Jogahara
- Laboratory of Animal Management and Resources, Department of Zoology, Okayama University of Science
- Division of Bio-resources, Department of Biotechnology, Frontier Science Research Center, University of Miyazaki
| | - Sen-ichi Oda
- Laboratory of Animal Management and Resources, Department of Zoology, Okayama University of Science
| | - Mitsuhiro Kawata
- Anatomy and Neurobiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
- School of Health Science, Bukkyo University
| | - Tatsuya Sakamoto
- Ushimado Marine Institute (UMI), Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University
| | - Hirotaka Sakamoto
- Ushimado Marine Institute (UMI), Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University
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Kurt P, Eroğlu K, Bayram Kuzgun T, Güntekin B. The modulation of delta responses in the interaction of brightness and emotion. Int J Psychophysiol 2016; 112:1-8. [PMID: 27871912 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2016] [Revised: 11/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The modulation of delta oscillations (0.5-3.5Hz) by emotional stimuli is reported. Physical attributes such as color, brightness and spatial frequency of emotional visual stimuli have crucial effect on the perception of complex scene. Brightness is intimately related with emotional valence. Here we explored the effect of brightness on delta oscillatory responses upon presentation of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures. We found that bright unpleasant pictures elicited lower amplitude of delta response than original unpleasant pictures. The electrophysiological finding of the study was in accordance with behavioral data. These results denoted the importance of delta responses on the examination of the association between perceptual and conceptual processes while in the question of brightness and emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pınar Kurt
- Istanbul Arel University, Department of Psychology, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - Kübra Eroğlu
- Istanbul Arel University, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey
| | | | - Bahar Güntekin
- Istanbul Medipol University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biophysics, Istanbul, Turkey; Istanbul Medipol University, Faculty of Medicine, REMER Clinical Electrophysiology, Neuroimaging and Neuromodulation Laboratory, Istanbul, Turkey
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Visual evoked potentials to an illusory change in brightness: the Craik-Cornsweet-O'Brien effect. Neuroreport 2016; 27:783-6. [PMID: 27254394 PMCID: PMC4905619 DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0000000000000614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Can brain electrical activity associated with the Craik-Cornsweet-O'Brien effect (CCOB) be identified in humans? Opposing luminance gradients met in the middle of a square image to create a luminance contrast-defined vertical border. The resulting rectangles on each side of the border were otherwise equiluminant, but appeared to differ in brightness, the CCOB effect. When the contrast gradients were swapped, the participants perceived darker and lighter rectangles trading places. This dynamic CCOB stimulus was reversed 1/s to elicit visual evoked potentials. The CCOB effect was absent in two control conditions. In one, the immediate contrast border, where the gradients met, was replaced by a dark vertical stripe; in the other, the outer segments of both rectangles, where the illusion would otherwise occur, were replaced by dark rectangles, leaving only the contrast-reversing gradients. Visual evoked potential components P1 and N2 were present for the CCOB stimuli, but not the control stimuli. Results are consistent with functional MRI and single unit evidence, suggesting that the brightness of the CCOB effect becomes dissociated from the luminance falling on the eye early in visual processing. These results favor explanations of brightness induction invoking rapid, early amplification of very low spatial-frequency information in the image to approximate natural scenes as opposed to a sluggish brightness adjustment spreading from the contrast border.
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Blakeslee B, McCourt ME. What visual illusions tell us about underlying neural mechanisms and observer strategies for tackling the inverse problem of achromatic perception. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 9:205. [PMID: 25954181 PMCID: PMC4405616 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2014] [Accepted: 03/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Research in lightness perception centers on understanding the prior assumptions and processing strategies the visual system uses to parse the retinal intensity distribution (the proximal stimulus) into the surface reflectance and illumination components of the scene (the distal stimulus—ground truth). It is agreed that the visual system must compare different regions of the visual image to solve this inverse problem; however, the nature of the comparisons and the mechanisms underlying them are topics of intense debate. Perceptual illusions are of value because they reveal important information about these visual processing mechanisms. We propose a framework for lightness research that resolves confusions and paradoxes in the literature, and provides insight into the mechanisms the visual system employs to tackle the inverse problem. The main idea is that much of the debate and confusion in the literature stems from the fact that lightness, defined as apparent reflectance, is underspecified and refers to three different types of judgments that are not comparable. Under stimulus conditions containing a visible illumination component, such as a shadow boundary, observers can distinguish and match three independent dimensions of achromatic experience: apparent intensity (brightness), apparent local intensity ratio (brightness-contrast), and apparent reflectance (lightness). In the absence of a visible illumination boundary, however, achromatic vision reduces to two dimensions and, depending on stimulus conditions and observer instructions, judgments of lightness are identical to judgments of brightness or brightness-contrast. Furthermore, because lightness judgments are based on different information under different conditions, they can differ greatly in their degree of difficulty and in their accuracy. This may, in part, explain the large variability in lightness constancy across studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Blakeslee
- Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University Fargo, ND, USA
| | - Mark E McCourt
- Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University Fargo, ND, USA
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19
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Hughes NJ, Goodhill GJ. Optimizing the Representation of Orientation Preference Maps in Visual Cortex. Neural Comput 2015; 27:32-41. [DOI: 10.1162/neco_a_00687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The colorful representation of orientation preference maps in primary visual cortex has become iconic. However, the standard representation is misleading because it uses a color mapping to indicate orientations based on the HSV (hue, saturation, value) color space, for which important perceptual features such as brightness, and not just hue, vary among orientations. This means that some orientations stand out more than others, conveying a distorted visual impression. This is particularly problematic for visualizing subtle biases caused by slight overrepresentation of some orientations due to, for example, stripe rearing. We show that displaying orientation maps with a color mapping based on a slightly modified version of the HCL (hue, chroma, lightness) color space, so that primarily only hue varies between orientations, leads to a more balanced visual impression. This makes it easier to perceive the true structure of this seminal example of functional brain architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J. Hughes
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Geoffrey J. Goodhill
- Queensland Brain Institute and School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
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20
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Takanami K, Sakamoto H, Matsuda KI, Satoh K, Tanida T, Yamada S, Inoue K, Oti T, Sakamoto T, Kawata M. Distribution of gastrin-releasing peptide in the rat trigeminal and spinal somatosensory systems. J Comp Neurol 2014; 522:1858-73. [PMID: 24254931 DOI: 10.1002/cne.23506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2013] [Revised: 08/30/2013] [Accepted: 11/15/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) has recently been identified as an itch-specific neuropeptide in the spinal sensory system in mice, but there are no reports of the expression and distribution of GRP in the trigeminal sensory system in mammals. We characterized and compared GRP-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in the trigeminal ganglion (TG) with those in the rat spinal dorsal root ganglion (DRG). GRP immunoreactivity was expressed in 12% of TG and 6% of DRG neurons and was restricted to the small- and medium-sized type cells. In both the TG and DRG, many GRP-ir neurons also expressed substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide, but not isolectin B4 . The different proportions of GRP and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 double-positive neurons in the TG and DRG imply that itch sensations via the TG and DRG pathways are transmitted through distinct mechanisms. The distribution of the axon terminals of GRP-ir primary afferents and their synaptic connectivity with the rat trigeminal sensory nuclei and spinal dorsal horn were investigated by using light and electron microscopic histochemistry. Although GRP-ir fibers were rarely observed in the trigeminal sensory nucleus principalis, oralis, and interpolaris, they were predominant in the superficial layers of the trigeminal sensory nucleus caudalis (Vc), similar to the spinal dorsal horn. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that GRP-ir terminals contained clear microvesicles and large dense-cored vesicles, and formed asymmetric synaptic contacts with a few dendrites in the Vc and spinal dorsal horn. These results suggest that GRP-dependent orofacial and spinal pruriceptive inputs are processed mainly in the superficial laminae of the Vc and spinal dorsal horn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Takanami
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566, Japan
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21
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Visual mismatch negativity is sensitive to illusory brightness changes. Brain Res 2014; 1561:48-59. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2013] [Revised: 02/25/2014] [Accepted: 03/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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22
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Dixon E, Shapiro AG. Paradoxical effect of spatially homogenous transparent fields on simultaneous contrast illusions. JOURNAL OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. A, OPTICS, IMAGE SCIENCE, AND VISION 2014; 31:A307-A313. [PMID: 24695187 DOI: 10.1364/josaa.31.00a307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
In simultaneous brightness contrast (SBC) demonstrations, identical mid-luminance disks appear different from each other when one is placed on a black background while the other is placed on a white background. The strength of SBC effects can be enhanced by placing a semi-transparent layer on top of the display (Meyer's effect). Here, we try to separate the causes of Meyer's effect by placing a spatially homogenous transparent layer over a standard SBC display, and systematically varying the transmission level (alpha=0, clear; alpha=1, opaque) and color (black, gray, white) of the semi-transparent layer. Spatially homogenous transparent layers, which lack spatial cues, cannot be unambiguously interpreted as transparent fields. We measure SBC strength with both matching and ranking procedures. Paradoxically, with black layers, increasing alpha level weakens SBC when measured with a ranking procedure (no Meyer's effect) and strengthens SBC when measured with a matching procedure (Meyer's effect). With white and gray layers, neither procedure produces Meyer's effect. We account for the differences between white and black layers by positing that the visual system separates luminance from contrast. The results suggest that observers attend to different information in the matching and ranking procedures.
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Dixon E, Shapiro A, Lu ZL. Scale-invariance in brightness illusions implicates object-level visual processing. Sci Rep 2014; 4:3900. [PMID: 24473496 PMCID: PMC3905277 DOI: 10.1038/srep03900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2013] [Accepted: 12/20/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Brightness illusions demonstrate that an object's perceived brightness depends on its visual context, leading to theoretical explanations ranging from simple lateral inhibition to those based on the influence of knowledge of and experience with the world. We measure the relative brightness of mid-luminance test disks embedded in gray-scale images, and show that rankings of test disk brightness are independent of viewing distance, implying that the rankings depend on the physical object size, not the size of disks subtended on the retina. A single filter that removes low spatial frequency content, adjusted to the diameters of the test disks, can account for the relative brightness of the disks. We note that the removal of low spatial frequency content is a principle common to many different approaches to brightness/lightness phenomena; furthermore, object-size representations--as opposed to retinal-size representations--inherently remove low spatial frequency content, therefore, any process that creates object representations should also produce brightness illusions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Dixon
- Department of Psychology American University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Arthur Shapiro
- Department of Psychology American University, Washington, DC, USA
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24
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Blakeslee B, McCourt ME. Brightness induction magnitude declines with increasing distance from the inducing field edge. Vision Res 2012; 78:39-45. [PMID: 23262229 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2012.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2012] [Revised: 12/12/2012] [Accepted: 12/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Brightness induction refers to a class of visual illusions where the perceived intensity of a region of space is influenced by the luminance of surrounding regions. These illusions are significant because they provide insight into the neural organization and processing strategies employed by the visual system. The nature of these processing strategies, however, has long been debated. Here we investigate the spatial characteristics of grating induction as a function of the distance from the inducing field edge to evaluate the viability of various competing models. In particular multiscale spatial filtering models and homogeneous filling-in models make very different predictions in regard to the magnitude of induction as a function of this distance. Filling-in explanations predict that the brightness/lightness of the filled-in region will be homogeneous, whereas multiscale filtering predicts a fall-off in induction magnitude with distance from the inducing field edge. Induction magnitude was measured using a narrow probe version of the quadrature-phase motion-cancellation paradigm (Blakeslee & McCourt, 2011) and a point-by-point brightness matching paradigm (Blakeslee & McCourt, 1997, 1999; McCourt, 1994). Both techniques reveal a decrease in the magnitude of induction with increasing distance from the inducing edge. A homogeneous filling-in mechanism cannot explain the induced structure in the test fields of these stimuli. The results argue strongly against filling-in mechanisms as well as against any mechanism that posits that induction is homogeneous. The structure of the induction is, however, well accounted for by the multiscale filtering (ODOG) model of Blakeslee and McCourt (1999). These results support models of brightness/lightness, such as filtering models, which preserve these gradients of induction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Blakeslee
- Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, United States.
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25
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Brown HR, Friston KJ. Dynamic causal modelling of precision and synaptic gain in visual perception - an EEG study. Neuroimage 2012; 63:223-31. [PMID: 22750569 PMCID: PMC3438451 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.06.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2012] [Revised: 06/21/2012] [Accepted: 06/22/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Estimating the precision or uncertainty associated with sensory signals is an important part of perception. Based on a previous computational model, we tested the hypothesis that increasing visual contrast increased the precision encoded in early visual areas by the gain or excitability of superficial pyramidal cells. This hypothesis was investigated using electroencephalography and dynamic causal modelling (DCM); a biologically constrained modelling of the cortical processes underlying EEG activity. Source localisation identified the electromagnetic sources of visually evoked responses and DCM was used to characterise the coupling among these sources. Bayesian model selection was used to select the most likely connectivity pattern and contrast-dependent changes in connectivity. As predicted, the model with the highest evidence entailed increased superficial pyramidal cell gain in higher-contrast trials. As predicted theoretically, contrast-dependent increases were reduced at higher levels of the hierarchy. These results demonstrate that increased signal-to-noise ratio in sensory signals produce (or are represented by) increased superficial pyramidal cell gain, and that synaptic parameters encoding statistical properties like sensory precision can be quantified using EEG and dynamic causal modelling.
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26
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Effects of overt and covert attention on the steady-state visual evoked potential. Neurosci Lett 2012; 519:37-41. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2012] [Revised: 04/30/2012] [Accepted: 05/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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27
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Blakeslee B, McCourt ME. When is spatial filtering enough? Investigation of brightness and lightness perception in stimuli containing a visible illumination component. Vision Res 2012; 60:40-50. [PMID: 22465541 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2012.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2011] [Revised: 02/16/2012] [Accepted: 03/08/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Brightness (perceived intensity) and lightness (perceived reflectance) matching were investigated in seven well-known visual stimuli that contain a visible shadow or transparent overlay. These stimuli are frequently upheld as evidence that low-level spatial filtering is inadequate to explain brightness/lightness illusions and that additional mid- or high-level mechanisms are required. The argument in favor of rejecting low-level spatial filtering explanations has been founded on the erroneous assumption that equating test patch and near surround luminance is sufficient to control for and rule out this type of mechanism. We tested this idea by comparing the matching behavior of four observers to the predictions of the ODOG multiscale filtering model (Blakeslee & McCourt, 1999). Lightness and brightness matching differed significantly only when test patches appeared in shadow or beneath a transparency. Lightness and brightness matches were both significantly larger under these conditions; however, the lightness matches greatly exceeded the brightness matches. Lightness matches were greater for test patches in shadow or beneath a transparency because lightness matches under these conditions were based on conscious inferential (not sensory-level) judgments where observers attempted to discount the difference in illumination. The ODOG model accounted for approximately 80% of the total variance in the brightness matches (as well as in the lightness matches for targets not in shadow or beneath a transparency), and successfully predicted the relative magnitude of these matches in five of the seven stimulus sets. These results indicate that multiscale spatial filtering provides a unified and parsimonious explanation for brightness perception in these stimuli and imply that higher-level mechanisms are not required to explain them. The model was not as successful for the argyle and wall of blocks illusions in that it incorrectly rank-ordered the relative magnitude of the effects across different versions of the stimuli. It is an important question whether such model failures are due to known but corrigible limitations of the ODOG model or whether they will require other (possibly higher-level) explanations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Blakeslee
- Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, NDSU Dept. 2765, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, United States.
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28
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Masuda A, Watanabe J, Terao M, Watanabe M, Yagi A, Maruya K. Awareness of Central Luminance Edge is Crucial for the Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet Effect. Front Hum Neurosci 2011; 5:125. [PMID: 22059072 PMCID: PMC3203414 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2011] [Accepted: 10/13/2011] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet (COC) effect demonstrates that perceived lightness depends not only on the retinal input at corresponding visual areas but also on distal retinal inputs. In the COC effect, the central edge of an opposing pair of luminance gradients (COC edge) makes adjoining regions with identical luminance appear to be different. To investigate the underlying mechanisms of the effect, we examined whether the subjective awareness of the COC edge is necessary for the generation of the effect. We manipulated the visibility of the COC edge using visual backward masking and continuous flash suppression while monitoring subjective reports regarding online percepts and aftereffects of adaptation. Psychophysical results showed that the online percept of the COC effect nearly vanishes in conditions where the COC edge is rendered invisible. On the other hand, the results of adaptation experiments showed that the COC edge is still processed at the early stage even under the perceptual suppression. These results suggest that processing of the COC edge at the early stage is not sufficient for generating the COC effect, and that subjective awareness of the COC edge is necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayako Masuda
- Department of Integrated Psychological Science, Kwansei Gakuin University Nishinomiya, Japan
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29
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Shapiro A, Lu ZL. Relative Brightness in Natural Images Can Be Accounted for by Removing Blurry Content. Psychol Sci 2011; 22:1452-9. [DOI: 10.1177/0956797611417453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
One critical question regarding visual cognition concerns how the physical properties of the visual world are represented in early vision and then relayed to high-level vision. Here, we posit a simple theory: Processes that encode object appearance reduce their response to spatial content that is coarser than the size of the attended object. We show that a filtering procedure based on this theory can account for the relative brightness levels of test patches placed in images of natural scenes and for many hard-to-explain brightness illusions. The implication is that the perception of brightness differences in most brightness illusions actually corresponds to physical differences present in the images. Portions of the visual system may encode these physical differences by means of neural processes that adaptively reduce their response to low-spatial-frequency content.
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30
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Ribeiro AJL, Souza WCD. Organização espacial na percepção visual de luminosidade. PSICOLOGIA: TEORIA E PESQUISA 2010. [DOI: 10.1590/s0102-37722010000200009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Este estudo analisou a influência de variações físicas dos estímulos, com base na organização espacial de figura-fundo criada pela associação dos efeitos ilusórios de contraste simultâneo de luminosidade e de contornos subjetivos. A cada participante, no total de 64, foram apresentadas 160 matrizes de escolha, cada uma composta de um estímulo modelo e quatro estímulos de comparação, devendo ser identificado qual dos quatro estímulos de comparação correspondia ao estímulo modelo. A diferença significativa entre as médias de ajuste visual verificadas para a condição de contorno subjetivo médio e para a condição controle (sem contorno) mostrou que a formação clássica de contornos subjetivos de Kanizsa, quando associada ao efeito de contraste simultâneo de luminosidade, influenciou a percepção de luminosidade dos participantes.
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31
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Kellman PJ, Garrigan P. Perceptual learning and human expertise. Phys Life Rev 2009; 6:53-84. [PMID: 20416846 PMCID: PMC6198797 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2008.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2008] [Revised: 12/04/2008] [Accepted: 12/05/2008] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We consider perceptual learning: experience-induced changes in the way perceivers extract information. Often neglected in scientific accounts of learning and in instruction, perceptual learning is a fundamental contributor to human expertise and is crucial in domains where humans show remarkable levels of attainment, such as language, chess, music, and mathematics. In Section 2, we give a brief history and discuss the relation of perceptual learning to other forms of learning. We consider in Section 3 several specific phenomena, illustrating the scope and characteristics of perceptual learning, including both discovery and fluency effects. We describe abstract perceptual learning, in which structural relationships are discovered and recognized in novel instances that do not share constituent elements or basic features. In Section 4, we consider primary concepts that have been used to explain and model perceptual learning, including receptive field change, selection, and relational recoding. In Section 5, we consider the scope of perceptual learning, contrasting recent research, focused on simple sensory discriminations, with earlier work that emphasized extraction of invariance from varied instances in more complex tasks. Contrary to some recent views, we argue that perceptual learning should not be confined to changes in early sensory analyzers. Phenomena at various levels, we suggest, can be unified by models that emphasize discovery and selection of relevant information. In a final section, we consider the potential role of perceptual learning in educational settings. Most instruction emphasizes facts and procedures that can be verbalized, whereas expertise depends heavily on implicit pattern recognition and selective extraction skills acquired through perceptual learning. We consider reasons why perceptual learning has not been systematically addressed in traditional instruction, and we describe recent successful efforts to create a technology of perceptual learning in areas such as aviation, mathematics, and medicine. Research in perceptual learning promises to advance scientific accounts of learning, and perceptual learning technology may offer similar promise in improving education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip J Kellman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
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Photoconductive method for measuring light transmission to the root of metal-ceramic and all-ceramic restorations. Dent Mater 2008; 24:1230-5. [PMID: 18372037 DOI: 10.1016/j.dental.2008.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2007] [Accepted: 01/17/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In this study, the authors attempted to develop a photoconductive method for measuring light transmission through a crown restoration to the root dentin; metal-ceramic crowns with four coping designs (metal collar, and metal framework ending 0, 1, and 2mm coronal to the axiogingival line angle) and two all-ceramic crowns (Empress II and In-Ceram Alumina) were compared. METHODS According to pre-registered templates, 36 crowns were fabricated for an extracted central incisor. A cadmium sulfide (CdS) photoconductive cell was secured onto the root of a tooth, which was fixed in a light box. The validity and reliability of the experimental design were verified, and the impedance of the cell was recorded when the crowns were placed on the prepared tooth with or without try-in pastes under a constant luminance. RESULTS A significant correlation (r= -0.99, p<0.001) was found between the light intensity and impedance of the CdS cell, and a 1.15% coefficient of variation between repeated measurements was observed. In this study, Empress II crowns had the smallest impedance, indicating that they provided the best light transmission. Conventional metal-ceramic crowns had the least light transmission, which was significantly improved by reducing the metal collar (p<0.05). The framework of metal-ceramic crowns which ended 2mm coronal to the axiogingival line angle showed as much light transmission as the In-Ceram crowns. The impedance increased when try-in pastes were employed in all test groups. SIGNIFICANCE The photoconductive method was proven to be a reliable technique for measuring the light transmitted through restorations into the adjacent tissue.
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33
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Albert MK. Occlusion, transparency, and lightness. Vision Res 2007; 47:3061-9. [PMID: 17949774 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2007.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2007] [Revised: 04/13/2007] [Accepted: 06/11/2007] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The lightness of a visual surface is its perceived achromatic reflectance [Adelson, E. H., (2000). Lightness perception and lightness illusions. In M. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The new cognitive neuroscience (2nd ed.) (pp. 339-351) Berlin: Springer; Gilchrist, A. (1999). Lightness perception. In R. W. F. Keil (Ed.), MIT encyclopedia of cognitive science (pp. 471-472). Cambridge: MIT press]. Lightness ranges from black, through various shades of grey, up to white. Anderson and Winawer [Anderson, B., Winawer, J. (2005). Image segmentation and lightness perception. Nature, 434, 79-83] suggested that perceptual decomposition of image luminance into multiple sources in different layers (e.g., perceptual transparency) is critical to the their lightness illusions. However, I show that simple perceptual occlusion evoked by T-junctions will work as well, suggesting that perceptual scission of luminance into multiple layers is unnecessary for such effects. I argue that the lightness illusions presented by Anderson and Winawer involve fundamentally different mechanisms than previously studied lightness illusions, including those involving perceptual transparency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc K Albert
- School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
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34
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Boots B, Nundy S, Purves D. Evolution of visually guided behavior in artificial agents. NETWORK (BRISTOL, ENGLAND) 2007; 18:11-34. [PMID: 17454680 DOI: 10.1080/09548980601113254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Recent work on brightness, color, and form has suggested that human visual percepts represent the probable sources of retinal images rather than stimulus features as such. Here we investigate the plausibility of this empirical concept of vision by allowing autonomous agents to evolve in virtual environments based solely on the relative success of their behavior. The responses of evolved agents to visual stimuli indicate that fitness improves as the neural network control systems gradually incorporate the statistical relationship between projected images and behavior appropriate to the sources of the inherently ambiguous images. These results: (1) demonstrate the merits of a wholly empirical strategy of animal vision as a means of contending with the inverse optics problem; (2) argue that the information incorporated into biological visual processing circuitry is the relationship between images and their probable sources; and (3) suggest why human percepts do not map neatly onto physical reality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Byron Boots
- Department of Neurobiology and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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35
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Bressan P. The place of white in a world of grays: a double-anchoring theory of lightness perception. Psychol Rev 2006; 113:526-53. [PMID: 16802880 DOI: 10.1037/0033-295x.113.3.526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The specific gray shades in a visual scene can be derived from relative luminance values only when an anchoring rule is followed. The double-anchoring theory I propose in this article, as a development of the anchoring theory of Gilchrist et al. (1999), assumes that any given region (a) belongs to one or more frameworks, created by Gestalt grouping principles, and (b) is independently anchored, within each framework, to both the highest luminance and the surround luminance. The region's final lightness is a weighted average of the values computed, relative to both anchors, in all frameworks. The new model accounts not only for all lightness illusions that are qualitatively explained by the anchoring theory but also for a number of additional effects, and it does so quantitatively, with the support of mathematical simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Bressan
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Universita di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy.
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36
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Choi SY, Borghuis BG, Borghuis B, Rea R, Levitan ES, Sterling P, Kramer RH. Encoding light intensity by the cone photoreceptor synapse. Neuron 2006; 48:555-62. [PMID: 16301173 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2005] [Revised: 08/19/2005] [Accepted: 09/19/2005] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
How cone synapses encode light intensity determines the precision of information transmission at the first synapse on the visual pathway. Although it is known that cone photoreceptors hyperpolarize to light over 4-5 log units of intensity, the relationship between light intensity and transmitter release at the cone synapse has not been determined. Here, we use two-photon microscopy to visualize release of the synaptic vesicle dye FM1-43 from cone terminals in the intact lizard retina, in response to different stimulus light intensities. We then employ electron microscopy to translate these measurements into vesicle release rates. We find that from darkness to bright light, release decreases from 49 to approximately 2 vesicles per 200 ms; therefore, cones compress their 10,000-fold operating range for phototransduction into a 25-fold range for synaptic vesicle release. Tonic release encodes ten distinguishable intensity levels, skewed to most finely represent bright light, assuming release obeys Poisson statistics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sue-Yeon Choi
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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37
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Abstract
The fact that most types of sensory stimuli occur naturally over a large range of intensities is a challenge to early sensory processing. Sensory mechanisms appear to be optimized to extract perceptually significant stimulus fluctuations that can be analysed in a manner largely independent of the absolute stimulus intensity. This general principle may not, however, extend to olfaction; many studies have suggested that olfactory stimuli are not perceptually invariant with respect to odour intensity. For many animals, absolute odour intensity may be a feature in itself, such that it forms a part of odour identity and thus plays an important role in discrimination alongside other odour properties such as the molecular identity of the odorant. The experiments with honeybees reported here show a departure from odour-concentration invariance and are consistent with a lower-concentration regime in which odour concentration contributes to overall odour identity and a higher-concentration regime in which it may not. We argue that this could be a natural consequence of odour coding and suggest how an 'intensity feature' might be useful to the honeybee in natural odour detection and discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geraldine A Wright
- Ohio State University, Mathematical Biosciences Institute, 231 W. 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
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38
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Schwartz DA, Purves D. Pitch is determined by naturally occurring periodic sounds. Hear Res 2005; 194:31-46. [PMID: 15276674 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2004.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2003] [Accepted: 01/23/2004] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The phenomenology of pitch has been difficult to rationalize and remains the subject of much debate. Here we test the hypothesis that audition generates pitch percepts by relating inherently ambiguous sound stimuli to their probable sources in the human auditory environment. A database of speech sounds, the principal source of periodic sound energy for human listeners, was compiled and the dominant periodicity of each speech sound determined. A set of synthetic test stimuli were used to assess whether the major pitch phenomena described in the literature could be explained by the probabilistic relationship between the stimuli and their probable sources (i.e., speech sounds). The phenomena tested included the perception of the missing fundamental, the pitch-shift of the residue, spectral dominance and the perception of pitch strength. In each case, the conditional probability distribution of speech sound periodicities accurately predicted the pitches normally heard in response to the test stimuli. We conclude from these findings that pitch entails an auditory process that relates inevitably ambiguous sound stimuli to their probable natural sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Schwartz
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Box 90999, Durham, NC 27708-0999, USA.
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39
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Abstract
One of the most important goals of visual processing is to reconstruct adequate representations of surfaces in a scene. It is thought that surface representation is produced mainly in the midlevel vision and that area V1 (the primary visual cortex) activity is solely due to feedback from the midlevel stage. Here, we measured functional MRI signals corresponding to "neon color spreading": an illusory transparent surface with long-range color filling-in, one of the important mediums in reconstructing a surface. The experiment was conducted with careful controls of attention, which can send feedback signals from higher visual areas. Activity for filling-in was observed only in V1, whereas activity for illusory contours was observed in multiple visual areas. These results indicate that surface representation is produced by multiple rather than single processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuka Sasaki
- NMR Center, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
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40
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Yang Z, Purves D. The statistical structure of natural light patterns determines perceived light intensity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004; 101:8745-50. [PMID: 15152077 PMCID: PMC437094 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0402192101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The same target luminance in different contexts can elicit markedly different perceptions of brightness, a fact that has long puzzled vision scientists. Here we test the proposal that the visual system encodes not luminance as such but rather the statistical relationship of a particular luminance to all possible luminance values experienced in natural contexts during evolution. This statistical conception of vision was validated by using a database of natural scenes in which we could determine the probability distribution functions of co-occurring target and contextual luminance values. The distribution functions obtained in this way predict target brightness in response to a variety of challenging stimuli, thus explaining these otherwise puzzling percepts. That brightness is determined by the statistics of natural light patterns implies that the relevant neural circuitry is specifically organized to generate these probabilistic responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyong Yang
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Neurobiology, Box 90999, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
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41
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Abstract
The authors evaluated 4 sequential sampling models for 2-choice decisions--the Wiener diffusion, Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) diffusion, accumulator, and Poisson counter models--by fitting them to the response time (RT) distributions and accuracy data from 3 experiments. Each of the models was augmented with assumptions of variability across trials in the rate of accumulation of evidence from stimuli, the values of response criteria, and the value of base RT across trials. Although there was substantial model mimicry, empirical conditions were identified under which the models make discriminably different predictions. The best accounts of the data were provided by the Wiener diffusion model, the OU model with small-to-moderate decay, and the accumulator model with long-tailed (exponential) distributions of criteria, although the last was unable to produce error RTs shorter than correct RTs. The relationship between these models and 3 recent, neurally inspired models was also examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger Ratcliff
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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