The effects of temporal modulation on the orientation channels of the human visual system

Illusory Shifts in Spatial Frequency Caused by Temporal Modulation

It is known that temporal modulation of a sinusoidal grating of low spatial frequency causes an increase in the apparent spatial frequency of the grating. A possible explanation for the illusion is proposed. Temporal modulation would favour channels which respond only transiently to prolonged presentation of a grating. These channels may be the human analogues of Y-cells found in the cat retina. Y-cells respond nonlinearly to gratings, and the nonlinearity may be the root of the apparent spatial-frequency illusions.

Orientation bandwidths are invariant across spatiotemporal frequency after isotropic components are removed

It is well established that mammalian visual cortex possesses a large proportion of orientation-selective neurons. Attempts to measure the bandwidth of these mechanisms psychophysically have yielded highly variable results ( approximately 6 degrees -180 degrees ). Two stimulus factors have been proposed to account for this variability: spatial and temporal frequency; with several studies indicating broader bandwidths at low spatial and high temporal frequencies. We estimated orientation bandwidths using a classic overlay masking paradigm across a range of spatiotemporal frequencies (0.5, 2, and 8 c.p.d.; 1.6 and 12.5 Hz) with target and mask presented either monoptically or dichoptically. A standard three-parameter Gaussian model (amplitude and width, mean fixed at 0 degrees ) confirms that bandwidths generally increase at low spatial and high temporal frequencies. When incorporating an additional orientation-untuned (isotropic) amplitude component, however, we find that not only are the amplitudes of isotropic and orientation-tuned components highly dependent upon stimulus spatiotemporal frequency, but orientation bandwidths are highly invariant ( approximately 30 degrees half width half amplitude). These results suggest that previously reported spatiotemporally contingent bandwidth effects may have confounded bandwidth with isotropic (so-called cross-orientation) masking. Interestingly, the magnitudes of all monoptically derived parameter estimates were found to transfer dichoptically suggesting a cortical locus for both isotropic and orientation-tuned masking.

Orientation tuning, but not direction selectivity, is invariant to temporal frequency in primary visual cortex

The activity of neurons in primary visual cortex is influenced by the orientation, contrast, and temporal frequency of a visual stimulus. This raises the question of how these stimulus properties interact to shape neuronal responses. While past studies have shown that the bandwidth of orientation tuning is invariant to stimulus contrast, the influence of temporal frequency on orientation-tuning bandwidth is unknown. Here, we investigate the influence of temporal frequency on orientation tuning and direction selectivity in area 17 of ferret visual cortex. For both simple cells and complex cells, measures of orientation-tuning bandwidth (half-width at half-maximum response) are approximately 20-25 degrees across a wide range of temporal frequencies. Thus cortical neurons display temporal-frequency invariant orientation tuning. In contrast, direction selectivity is typically reduced, and occasionally reverses, at nonpreferred temporal frequencies. These results show that the mechanisms contributing to the generation of orientation tuning and direction selectivity are differentially affected by the temporal frequency of a visual stimulus and support the notion that stability of orientation tuning is an important aspect of visual processing.

Effect of spatial configuration on motion aftereffects

Sensitivity to motion was measured by the percentage of trials on which an observer reported seeing motion of briefly presented high-contrast sinusoidal gratings moving over a range of velocities. The psychometric curve was remeasured following adaptation to a grating moving in one direction for an extended period of time. Adaptation shifted the minimum of the psychometric curve toward the direction of the direction of the adapting stimulus. The shift was smaller when the adapting field was larger than the test. In a second set of experiments we measured the effect of motion adaptation on contrast thresholds for moving gratings of different sizes. Threshold elevation was maximal when adapting and test sizes matched. We present a mechanistic model of the motion aftereffect that consists of independent multiplicative gain controls in motion-sensing mechanisms tuned to different rates of motion. In addition, we discuss a model of size effects in motion adaptation that invokes diffuse inhibitory connections among motion-sensing mechanisms.

Orientation bandwidth: the effect of spatial and temporal frequency

The orientation bandwidths of psychophysically defined channels of human vision were estimated by two techniques for a wide range of spatial and temporal frequencies. The first technique was an adaptation paradigm, where the subjects' ability to see patterns of various orientations was measured before and after adapting to a high contrast pattern. The second technique evaluated subjects' ability to discriminate between two gratings of different orientations in relation to their ability to detect the patterns. Bandwidths were unaffected by temporal frequency at high spatial frequencies but increased with temporal frequency at low spatial frequencies. Bandwidths increased modestly with decreasing spatial frequency at low temporal frequencies but more drastically at high temporal frequencies. Both techniques gave similar results except for patterns with very low spatial and high temporal frequencies. In this region the stimulus appears "spatial-frequency doubled" which may be used as a cue for the orientation discrimination task.

Orientation selectivity of 3-month-old infants

A modification of the visual evoked potential (VEP) technique, first employed by Braddick, Wattam-Bell and Atkinson [(1986) Nature, London, 320, 617-619] was used to estimate the orientation selectivity of 3-month-old infants. The orientation-selective VEP was recorded in response to various changes in the orientation of a square-wave grating. The magnitude (the square root of the power of the FFT) at the frequency of orientation change was assumed to represent the response to the change in grating orientation. Orientation sensitivity was then estimated by plotting the magnitude of the FFT at the frequency of orientation change as a function of the log of the orientation change in degrees. For each individual, the data were fit by nonlinear regression and threshold was defined as the largest orientation angle for which the magnitude of the FFT was zero. The results suggest that the orientation selectivity of 3-month-old infants (1.33 deg) is similar to that of adults (1.13 deg) tested with the same stimulus parameters (1 c/deg, 9 Hz). However, when adults are tested with stimulus parameters selected to optimize their VEP response (4 c/deg, 18 Hz) instead of those which optimize the infant's response, the orientation discrimination of adults improves by a factor of 2 (0.53 deg). The results obtained from adults under optimum stimulus conditions (4 c/deg, 18 Hz) approach the estimates reported in the literature for static stimuli.

Motion adaptation from surrounding stimuli

When a narrow uniform gap was surrounded by a moving grating, the gap appeared as a grating in the opposite phase to that of the surround, moving in the same direction with the same speed. Contrast thresholds for moving test-gratings placed in the region of the uniform gap were found to be elevated after prolonged viewing of this pattern, thus demonstrating the existence of motion adaptation in a retinal region surrounded by, but not covered by, a moving pattern. The amplitude of the moving induced-grating was measured by nulling with a real grating moving in the same direction and with the same speed as the surround. When the speed of the inducing grating was varied, the amplitude of the induced effect did not correlate with the magnitude of the threshold elevation. Therefore, it is unlikely that motion adaptation in the uniform gap was due to induced gratings. In some conditions, the adaptation effect of surrounding gratings was no less than the adaptation effect of gratings covering the test region. This result rules out an explantation involving scattered light, and indicates that motion adaptation occurs at a later stage than that consisting of simple motion mechanisms which confound the contrast and velocity of a moving stimulus.

Measurement of visual channels by contrast adaptation

Inspection of a high-contrast grating pattern affects our ability to detect patterns that are similar. This technique can be used to infer the underlying mechanisms of the visual system. By using this technique, measurements of the bandwidth of orientation channels are taken for different levels of adapting contrast and adapting duration. If the threshold elevation is plotted as the difference between the unadapted and adapted threshold in decibels, then the orientation bandwidth is invariant if taken at some fraction of the maximum elevation. This results from the fact that, as the orientation difference between the adapting and test patterns increases, the function relating threshold elevation to adapting contrast reduces in slope. These data contradict the often-used 'equivalent contrast transformation' (in which the fall off in the adaptation effect with respect to orientation is expressed in terms of an equivalent reduction in adapting contrast) as this would produce quite different bandwidths at different adapting contrasts. The data also address the issue of the neuronal mechanisms of adaptation.

Spatial and temporal selectivity of the human motion detection system

Measurements were made of spatial frequency, orientation and temporal frequency selectivity of the visual motion system. The results suggest: (1) There exists in the motion system mechanisms selective for spatial frequency. The preferred spatial frequency varies considerably and extends down to at least 0.06 c/deg. (2) At all spatial frequencies (from 0.1 to 10 c/deg) there exist detectors selective for orientation which vary in (directed) orientation tuning to encompass 360 degrees. (3) The bandwidth of both spatial frequency and orientation selectivity vary inversely with spatial frequency: the lower the spatial frequency, the broader the bandwidth. (4) There exist two classes of temporally tuned detectors, one lowpass (sustained) and one bandpass (transient), of preferred temporal frequency of 7-13 Hz (depending on spatial frequency).

Spatial selectivity of contrast adaptation: models and data

Contrast threshold elevation was measured in human observers at a single spatial frequency (4 or 8 c/deg) after adaptation to gratings at different contrasts and spatial frequencies. When plotted against adapting contrast, the threshold elevation functions for different adapting frequencies were neither straight nor parallel, which poses difficulties for the "equivalent contrast transformation". The different functions appear to form a single family, differing by a scaling factor that depends on spatial frequency but is independent of contrast. This is similar to expressing the aftereffect as a proportion of its peak value. A multiple channel, "fatigue" model of adaptation is shown to be consistent with the results, provided the channel shape is appropriate and channels overlap considerably in the frequency domain. Channel bandwidth is estimated at 1.4 octaves, similar to that of cortical cells.

Low spatial-frequency channels in human vision: adaptation and masking

Previous work showed that adapting to low spatial frequency gratings (below 1.5 cycles/degree) may cause maximal spatial adaptation at a significantly higher spatial frequency. It has been suggested that there are no adaptable spatial-frequency channels tuned to below 1.5 c/deg. Contrary to this view, we found that adaptation and masking with low spatial frequencies (0.12-1.0 c/deg) produced maximal threshold elevations when the test patterns were the same spatial frequency as the adapting or masking pattern. These results were obtained using test patterns that turned on and off gradually or sharply. The results suggest that there are form mechanisms optimally sensitive to very low spatial frequencies. Adaptation was selective to position (phase) and orientation at low spatial frequencies; masking was observed to be selective to orientation at a spatial frequency as low as 0.2 c/deg. A clear dichotomy between transient, motion channels and sustained, form channels at low spatial and temporal frequencies may represent an unrealistic simplification. There may exist directionally-selective motion mechanisms sensitive to very slow motion, and these may play a role in the discrimination of form. The discussion considers the bandwidths of the low spatial frequency mechanisms.

Monocular versus binocular contrast thresholds for movement and pattern

The superiority of binocular vision over monocular vision has been compared for the detection of stationary sinusoidal grating patterns, and for the detection of the apparent movement induced by rapidly phase-reversing such gratings. The thresholds for binocular and monocular pattern perception were in the ratio 1:2 1/2, as found by previous workers. For apparent movement, however, binocular thresholds were lower than monocular thresholds by a factor of 1.9; for every subject tested (n = 20) the ratio for movement detection was larger than the ratio for pattern detection. The effects of combining inputs from the two eyes cannot be explained solely by linear summation models, but may in some circumstances depend on the nonlinearities of certain types of nerve cell.

The effects of temporal modulation on the oblique effect in humans

Contrast thresholds were measured for vertical and oblique grating patterns. As shown previously, at higher spatial frequencies sensitivity for vertical is much greater than that for oblique. Present results show that this difference is sensitivity is found only with low rates of temporal modulation; with higher temporal frequencies this orientation difference disappears. Moreover, when contrast thresholds are based on the perception of flicker, vertical and oblique sensitivities are essentially identical even at low flicker rates. These results indicate that the so-called "oblique effect' is confined to mechanisms with poor temporal resulving power, probably the sustained channels which have been studied psychophysically and neurophysiologically by others.