Prism adaptation and aftereffect: specifying the properties of a procedural memory system.
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Prism adaptation, a form of procedural learning, is a phenomenon in which the motor system adapts to new visuospatial coordinates imposed by prisms that displace the visual field. Once the prisms are withdrawn, the degree and strength of the adaptation can be measured by the spatial deviation of the motor actions in the direction opposite to the visual displacement imposed by the prisms, a phenomenon known as aftereffect. This study was designed to define the variables that affect the acquisition and retention of the aftereffect. Subjects were required to throw balls to a target in front of them before, during, and after lateral displacement of the visual field with prismatic spectacles. The diopters of the prisms and the number of throws were varied among different groups of subjects. The results show that the adaptation process is dependent on the number of interactions between the visual and motor system, and not on the time spent wearing the prisms. The results also show that the magnitude of the aftereffect is highly correlated with the magnitude of the adaptation, regardless of the diopters of the prisms or the number of throws. Finally, the results suggest that persistence of the aftereffect depends on the number of throws after the adaptation is complete. On the basis of these results, we propose that the system underlying this kind of learning stores at least two different parameters, the contents (measured as the magnitude of displacement) and the persistence (measured as the number of throws to return to the baseline) of the learned information. (+info)
Dynamic random noise shrinks the twinkling aftereffect induced by artificial scotomas.
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Physiological alterations in cortical neurons are induced during adaptation to an artificial scotoma, a small homogeneous patch within a dynamic random noise or patterned background. When the dynamic noise is replaced by an equiluminant gray background, a twinkling aftereffect can be seen in the location of the artificial scotoma. Following binocular adaptation, we discovered that the perceived size of the twinkling aftereffect was dramatically smaller than the inducing artificial scotoma. Dichoptic adaptation induced shrinkage in the twinkling aftereffect that was similar to that found after binocular adaptation, suggesting that the twinkling aftereffect and its shrinkage both have cortical origins. We speculate that this perceptual shrinkage may reflect the interaction between two cortical mechanisms: a twinkling aftereffect mechanism that spreads throughout the artificial scotoma, and a filling-in mechanism that has a greater influence at the edges of the artificial scotoma and spreads inwards. (+info)
Global motion adaptation.
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Image motion is initially detected locally. Local motion signals are then integrated across space in order to specify the global motion of objects or surfaces. It is well known that prolonged exposure to motion causes adaptation at the local motion level. We have investigated whether adaptation also occurs at the global motion level. We have devised a global motion stimulus (a random dot kinematogram) which has equal motion energy in opposite directions but nonetheless gives rise to global motion perception. At the local motion level, adaptation to this stimulus should cause equal adaptation in both directions and should not give rise to an aftereffect. Any aftereffect seen must therefore be attributable to adaptation at the global motion level. We find that following adaptation to this stimulus, judgements of the perceived direction of a test pattern are systematically biased towards the direction opposite to the adapting direction, suggesting that adaptation does occur at a level of visual processing at which global motion is represented. (+info)
Is the size aftereffect direction selective?
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We investigated whether the size aftereffect (apparent spatial-frequency shift after adaptation to slightly different frequencies) is direction selective; i.e., whether it is stronger for test stimuli moving in the adapting direction than the opposite direction. We used drifting sinusoidal gratings of various spatiotemporal frequencies for both adaptation and test stimuli, and the perceived test frequency was estimated by means of a matching technique with a staircase method. For the purpose of comparison, the post-adaptation threshold elevation was measured in addition to the size aftereffect. The results revealed that the direction of stimuli had no influence on the magnitude of the size aftereffect for a wide range of spatiotemporal frequencies, whereas the post-adaptation threshold elevation showed clear direction selectivity. Although there was a significant direction selectivity for the size aftereffect at low spatial and high temporal frequencies, the selectivity was much weaker than that seen in the threshold elevation data. These findings are discussed in relation to the validity of a unified account of selective adaptation at and above threshold contrast and the notion of the separate processing of pattern and motion information. (+info)
The stereoscopic (cyclopean) motion aftereffect is selective for spatial frequency and orientation of disparity modulation.
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Across two experiments, this study investigated the spatial frequency tuning and orientation tuning (both in the disparity domain) of the stereoscopic (cyclopean) motion aftereffect. In Experiment 1, observers adapted to a moving stereoscopic grating of a given cyclopean spatial frequency and tested for the motion aftereffect with a static grating of the same or different spatial frequency. Robust motion aftereffects were induced only when the spatial frequency of the adapt and test stimuli was the same. In Experiment 2, observers adapted to a moving stereoscopic grating of a given cyclopean orientation and tested for the motion aftereffect with a static grating of the same or different orientation. Robust motion aftereffects were induced only when the orientation of the adapt and test stimuli was the same. Together, these results suggest that the stereoscopic motion aftereffect is tuned for cyclopean spatial frequency and orientation which, in turn, suggest that the stereoscopic motion aftereffect is mediated by low-level oriented spatial-frequency mechanisms. (+info)
Visual adaptation as optimal information transmission.
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We propose that visual adaptation in orientation, spatial frequency, and motion can be understood from the perspective of optimal information transmission. The essence of the proposal is that neural response properties at the system level should be adjusted to the changing statistics of the input so as to maximize information transmission. We show that this principle accounts for several well-documented psychophysical phenomena, including the tilt aftereffect, change in contrast sensitivity and post-adaptation changes in orientation discrimination. Adaptation can also be considered on a longer time scale, in the context of tailoring response properties to natural scene statistics. From the anisotropic distribution of power in natural scenes, the proposal also predicts differences in the contrast sensitivity function across spatial frequency and orientation, including the oblique effect. (+info)
A hierarchical structure of motion system revealed by interocular transfer of flicker motion aftereffects.
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Interocular transfer of the motion aftereffect (MAE) has been extensively investigated for the purpose of analysing the binocularity of the underlying motion mechanism. Previous studies unanimously reported that the transfer of the classical static MAE is partial, but there is a controversy as to whether the transfer of the flicker MAE (MAE measured using counterphase gratings) is partial or perfect. To gain insight into the discrepancy between studies, we investigated whether the interocular transfer of the flicker MAE is influenced by the MAE measurement method, retinal eccentricity and attention. Our results showed that the transfer was perfect or nearly so when the MAE duration was measured in the central visual field with observers paying attention to the adaptation stimulus, but the transfer was partial when the MAE nulling strength was measured, when the MAE duration was measured in the peripheral visual field, or when the observers' attention was distracted by a secondary task. These results not only resolve discrepancies between previous studies, but also suggest that the flicker MAE reflects adaptation at multiple stages in the hierarchical architecture of motion processing. (+info)
Facilitation from collinear flanks is cancelled by non-collinear flanks.
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Detection of a central Gabor pattern is facilitated by the presence of collinear flanking patterns. We find that this facilitation is greatly reduced when the collinear flanks are combined with non-collinear flanks to form a coherent surround. These results are unlikely to be explained by mechanisms that merely transduce local contrast in a nonlinear fashion. A model wherein the outputs of such mechanisms are combined anisotropically provides a better account for these results. (+info)