Volume 9, Number 1, Article 4, Pages 1-9 doi:10.1167/9.1.4 http://journalofvision.org/9/1/4/ ISSN 1534-7362
Visual adaptation reveals asymmetric spatial frequency tuning for motion
Timothy Ledgeway
Visual Neuroscience Group, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
[home] [e-mail]
Claire V. Hutchinson
School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
[home] [e-mail]
Abstract

This study investigated the spatial frequency selectivity of the human visual motion system using the technique of adaptation in which motion aftereffect (MAE) duration was taken as an index of aftereffect magnitude. Eight observers adapted to two vertically oriented, oppositely drifting, luminance-defined gratings that were spatially separated in the vertical dimension. The spatial frequency of the adaptation patterns spanned a 3-octave range (0.25 to 2 c/deg) and drifted at 5 Hz. Following adaptation (20 s), two stationary test patterns were presented and MAE duration was measured. The spatial frequency difference between the adaptation and test patterns was varied from −2.5 to 2.5 octaves in 0.5 octave steps. MAE tuning functions at the lowest adaptation frequency (0.25 c/deg) were bandpass and reasonably symmetric. However, as the spatial frequency of the adaptation patterns increased, overall MAE duration decreased and the shape of the tuning functions became markedly asymmetric. This asymmetry was characterized by a MAE peak that was centered ∼1 octave below the adaptation frequency. The results are consistent with recent masking studies (C. V. Hutchinson & T. Ledgeway, 2007) and may reflect either asymmetric spatial frequency selectivity of underlying motion units or frequency-specific interactions (e.g. inhibition) between motion sensors tuned to different spatial frequencies.

View full-text

History
Received May 16, 2008; published January 8, 2009
Citation
Ledgeway, T., & Hutchinson, C. V. (2009). Visual adaptation reveals asymmetric spatial frequency tuning for motion. Journal of Vision, 9(1):4, 1-9, http://journalofvision.org/9/1/4/, doi:10.1167/9.1.4.
Keywords
motion-2D, temporal vision, spatial vision, adaptation, motion aftereffect, spatial frequency selectivity
Downloads
167 Total; 0.237 /day (DemandFactor)
 
Search
for articles that cite this paper
for related articles by these authors
for papers that cite this paper
Get citation






jov