Biomedical subjects

Hongjing Lu

Publications and source records attributed to Hongjing Lu.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Computing dynamic classification images from correlation maps.

We used Pearson's correlation to compute dynamic classification images of biological motion in a point-light display. Observers discriminated whether a human figure that was embedded in dynamic white Gaussian noise was walking forward or backward. Their responses were correlated with the Gaussian noise fields frame by frame, across trials. The resultant correlation map gave rise to a sequence of dynamic classification images that were clearer than either the standard method of A. J. Ahumada and J. Lovell (1971) or the optimal weighting method of R. F. Murray, P. J. Bennett, and A. B. Sekuler (2002). Further, the correlation coefficients of all the point lights were similar to each other when overlapping pixels between forward and backward walkers were excluded. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that the point-light walker is represented in a global manner, as opposed to a fixed subset of point lights being more important than others. We conjecture that the superior performance of the correlation map may reflect inherent nonlinearities in processing biological motion, which are incompatible with the assumptions underlying the previous methods.

Artifacts↗

PubMed2006

Amodal completion impairs stereoacuity discrimination.

Visual stimulus configuration can influence elementary visual processes. We provide empirical evidence to demonstrate this effect in stereoscopic depth discrimination. Two vertically aligned bars were presented in stereo such that one of them was closer to the human observer. Observers discriminated which of the two was closest. In the first, "occluded" condition, a horizontal bar, positioned closest in depth to the observer, was added to the display such that the two vertical bars perceptually completed to form a whole by connecting together behind the horizontal bar. In the second, control condition, the horizontal bar was placed furthest away from the observer such that there was a visible gap between the two vertical bars, which could no longer complete perceptually. We measured observers' psychometric functions using the method of constant stimuli, and found that their discrimination sensitivity d' was smaller when the two vertical bars perceptually completed than when they did not. We used a simple model to illustrate that when the two vertical bars perceptually completed, they also tended to be perceived as coplanar in the fronto-parallel plane. This consequence of completion made it more difficult to discriminate any difference in depth between the two vertical bars.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2006

Shape recognition alters sensitivity in stereoscopic depth discrimination.

A fundamental question in visual perception is to characterize how information from sensory input is integrated with prior probabilities. The role of prior probabilities is controversial for elementary visual processes, which are often believed to be immune from higher-level influences. In this paper, we demonstrate such influences. We tested human observers' abilities to discriminate stereoscopic depth defined by points embedded in a biological pattern--a human figure. Our results indicate that the internal representation of a walking human figure imposed constraints on depth discrimination of a static stimulus. This constraint was manifested when the stimulus was recognized as a human figure. When the expected human figure configuration (forearms having equal length) was inconsistent with the sensory input information, discrimination of forearm lengths was impaired. In contrast, when there was no inconsistency (the hand-hip distance on the left was not expected to be equal to that on the right), discrimination between the two distances was improved, presumably because the human figure configuration provided a more accurate frame of reference for stereoscopic depth. Both the impairment and improvement were due to changes of discrimination sensitivity rather than decision bias. Our findings support the view that visual perception is an inference process constrained by Bayesian prior probabilities.

Bayes Theorem↗

PubMed2006

Role of gamma-band synchronization in priming of form discrimination for multiobject displays.

Previous research has shown that synchronized flicker can facilitate detection of a single Kanizsa square. The present study investigated the role of temporally structured priming in discrimination tasks involving perceptual relations between multiple Kanizsa-type figures. Results indicate that visual information presented as temporally structured flicker in the gamma band can modulate the perception of multiple objects in a subsequent display. For judgments of both relative orientation and relative position of 2 rectangles, response time to identify and discriminate relations between the objects was consistently decreased when the vertices corresponding to distinct Kanizsa-type rectangles were primed asynchronously. Implications are discussed for models of the perception of objects and their interrelations.

Conditioning, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

The glare effect does not give rise to a longer-lasting afterimage.

The glare effect is an illusion in which a region appears self-luminous when flanked by gradients that decrease in luminance with distance from the region (Zavagno, 1999 Perception 28 835-838). This region also appears brighter than a surface of the same luminance. We investigated, using the paradigm of afterimages, whether a low-level mechanism at the level of the retina or LGN could account for this apparent brighter sensation. We first replicated the result from the literature that brighter and longer-lasting physical stimuli generate longer-lasting afterimages. We then compared the glare-effect stimuli with their counterpart controls, and found that the glare-effect stimuli did not give rise to longer-lasting afterimages. This suggests that the apparent brighter sensation of the glare effect is not due to a retinal or LGN mechanism, but must have a cortical origin.

Afterimage↗

PubMed2004

Learning motion discrimination with suppressed MT.

We studied perceptual learning in motion discrimination when the brain's middle temporal area (MT/V5) was functionally suppressed. This was achieved by using the "paired-dots" motion stimulus where the two dots in a pair always move in counter-phase over a short distance [J. Neurosci. 14 (1994) 7357]. The motion directional signal of the stimulus is therefore always 0 on average. As a result, this stimulus activates MT in Rhesus monkeys no more than flicker noise does [J. Neurosci. 14 (1994) 7367]. We added a new manipulation to eliminate the Glass pattern in the original stimulus that would have otherwise provided a static orientation cue. Two such new motion stimuli were presented sequentially, in a 2AFC task. Subjects decided if the global motion-axis of the stimuli changed clockwise or counter-clockwise. When the task difficulty was set at 60% correct, none of the subjects could learn with feedback, even though their performance was well above chance. However, when the task difficulty was set instead at 70% correct, a new group of subjects was able to learn. Hence, learning motion discrimination was possible when MT was presumably eliminated.

Discrimination Learning↗