Abstract
As we move through our environment, the flow of deforming images on the retinae provides a rich source of information about the three-dimensional structure of the external world and how to navigate through it. Recent evidence from psychophysical [1-4], electrophysiological [5-9] and imaging [10,11] studies suggests that there are neurons in the primate visual system - in the medial superior temporal cortex - that are specialised to respond to this type of complex 'optic flow' motion. In principle, optic flow could be encoded by a small number of neural mechanisms tuned to 'cardinal directions', including radial and circular motion [12,13]. There is little support for this idea at present, however, from either physiological [6,7] or psychophysical [14] research. We have measured the sensitivity of human subjects for detection of motion and for discrimination of motion direction over a wide and densely sampled range of complex motions. Average sensitivity was higher for inward and outward radial movement and for both directions of rotation, consistent with the existence of detectors tuned to these four types of motion. Principle component analysis revealed two clear components, one for radial stimuli (outward and inward) and the other for circular stimuli (clockwise and counter-clockwise). The results imply that the mechanisms that analyse optic flow in humans tend to be tuned to the cardinal axes of radial and rotational motion.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 763-766 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Current Biology |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 15 1999 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
Cite this
Cardinal directions for visual optic flow. / Morrone, M. Concetta; Burr, David C.; Di Pietro, Silvia; Stefanelli, Maria Antonietta.
In: Current Biology, Vol. 9, No. 14, 15.07.1999, p. 763-766.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Cardinal directions for visual optic flow
AU - Morrone, M. Concetta
AU - Burr, David C.
AU - Di Pietro, Silvia
AU - Stefanelli, Maria Antonietta
PY - 1999/7/15
Y1 - 1999/7/15
N2 - As we move through our environment, the flow of deforming images on the retinae provides a rich source of information about the three-dimensional structure of the external world and how to navigate through it. Recent evidence from psychophysical [1-4], electrophysiological [5-9] and imaging [10,11] studies suggests that there are neurons in the primate visual system - in the medial superior temporal cortex - that are specialised to respond to this type of complex 'optic flow' motion. In principle, optic flow could be encoded by a small number of neural mechanisms tuned to 'cardinal directions', including radial and circular motion [12,13]. There is little support for this idea at present, however, from either physiological [6,7] or psychophysical [14] research. We have measured the sensitivity of human subjects for detection of motion and for discrimination of motion direction over a wide and densely sampled range of complex motions. Average sensitivity was higher for inward and outward radial movement and for both directions of rotation, consistent with the existence of detectors tuned to these four types of motion. Principle component analysis revealed two clear components, one for radial stimuli (outward and inward) and the other for circular stimuli (clockwise and counter-clockwise). The results imply that the mechanisms that analyse optic flow in humans tend to be tuned to the cardinal axes of radial and rotational motion.
AB - As we move through our environment, the flow of deforming images on the retinae provides a rich source of information about the three-dimensional structure of the external world and how to navigate through it. Recent evidence from psychophysical [1-4], electrophysiological [5-9] and imaging [10,11] studies suggests that there are neurons in the primate visual system - in the medial superior temporal cortex - that are specialised to respond to this type of complex 'optic flow' motion. In principle, optic flow could be encoded by a small number of neural mechanisms tuned to 'cardinal directions', including radial and circular motion [12,13]. There is little support for this idea at present, however, from either physiological [6,7] or psychophysical [14] research. We have measured the sensitivity of human subjects for detection of motion and for discrimination of motion direction over a wide and densely sampled range of complex motions. Average sensitivity was higher for inward and outward radial movement and for both directions of rotation, consistent with the existence of detectors tuned to these four types of motion. Principle component analysis revealed two clear components, one for radial stimuli (outward and inward) and the other for circular stimuli (clockwise and counter-clockwise). The results imply that the mechanisms that analyse optic flow in humans tend to be tuned to the cardinal axes of radial and rotational motion.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0960-9822(99)80338-8
DO - 10.1016/S0960-9822(99)80338-8
M3 - Article
VL - 9
SP - 763
EP - 766
JO - Current Biology
JF - Current Biology
SN - 0960-9822
IS - 14
ER -