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The influence of spatial frequency on the reaction times and evoked potentials recorded to grating pattern stimuli.

The simple reaction times recorded to sine-wave and square-wave grating stimulus patterns of both constant physical contrast and of constant suprathreshold contrast were appreciably delayed by an increase in spatial frequency from 0.5 to 10 c/deg. There was no comparable increase, however, in the peak latency of the initial visual evoked potential component, C1, recorded to the same stimulus patterns. In view of the evidence that C1 has a striate cortical origin, these results suggest that the large spatial-frequency dependent variations in RT do not reflect delays of stimulus-induced neuronal responses in the primary visual pathway from retina to striate cortex.

Evoked Potentials, Visual↗

Effects of contrast, orientation and binocularity in the pattern evoked potential.

Monocular and binocular visual evoked potentials were studied as a function of modulation depth (contrast) of a counterphase sinusoidal grating stimulus. A range of spatial and temporal frequencies of stimulation were used. The contrast functions showed many different forms, and were in some cases nonmonotonic. The binocular response usually had a steeper slope than the monocular response. Extrapolating the slope to the zero intercept gave electrophysiological thresholds which did not correspond with psychophysical threshold at any spatial or temporal frequency used. The binocular response was reduced to the monocular level when the orientation difference between the two eyes exceeded about 20 degrees. The data show that the pattern evoked potential is highly specific to many stimulus variables.

Depth Perception↗

A visual evoked potential study of metacontrast masking.

In a comparison of the subjective appearance of, and the scalp-recorded potentials evoked by, the first of two successively presented patterns of spatially adjacent elements, we recorded typical U-shaped metacontrast masking functions but found no discernible modification of either of the two initial VEP components, C1 and C2. These results, together with the previously established properties of C1 and C2, suggest that the early stages of contour-specific processing in the visual cortex have relatively short response latencies and durations and are uninfluenced by the subsequent presentation of metacontrast masking stimuli. The VEP data would thus appear to conflict with the basic assumptions of inhibition theories of metacontrast.

Evoked Potentials, Visual↗

Visual latency of ganglion X- and Y-cells: a comparison with geniculate X- and Y-cells.

Visual response latencies and rise times of X and Y ganglion cells recorded in the optic tract of anaesthetized, paralyzed cats were measured during repeated stimulation with sinusoidal gratings. These measures were compared with visual latencies and rise times of X- and Y-cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. Measurements were restricted to individual trials on which the instantaneous discharge rate exceeded a criterion amplitude defined in terms of the statistics of the baseline activity of each cell in order to screen out false alarm responses. The onset and peak latencies of ganglion Y-cells are about 10-15 msec shorter than those of ganglion X-cells at low spatial frequencies (less than 0.25 c/deg) but about 10-20 msec longer at higher spatial frequencies (greater than 0.75 c/deg/). The onset latencies of geniculate X- and Y-cells lag their ganglion counterparts by 10-20 msec. Despite a delay in onsets of geniculate responses, the peak latencies of geniculate and ganglion X-cells are similar, and peak latencies of geniculate Y-cells are even shorter than those of their ganglion inputs. The short latencies of the peak responses of geniculate Y-cells are related to their short response rise times. A functional consequence of the bursty, but fast responses of geniculate Y-cells may be to accelerate the processing of lower spatial frequencies by the retino-geniculate Y-cell pathway.

Action Potentials↗

Measurement of spatial contrast sensitivity with the swept contrast VEP.

Contrast response functions (CRFs) for the VEP were obtained with a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) technique employing swept contrast gratings. VEP CRFs in infants were found to have a form similar to those observed in adults, being linear functions of log contrast over a range of near-threshold contrasts. CRFs with low and high contrast lobes were present in infants, as they are in adults. Contrast thresholds were estimated by extrapolation of the CRF to zero microvolts. The effects of additive EEG noise and of the DFT data window on the shape of the measured CRF are considered. For large signals, the measured CRF is nearly independent of the additive noise, but at small signal values additive noise introduces a small bias towards larger amplitudes. The VEP signal-plus-noise distribution was modeled as a family of Rice distributions in order to evaluate the effects of bias on the estimates of threshold. The amount of bias depends inversely upon the slope of the CRF. The amount of bias introduced by a smoothing window also depends upon slope of the CRF as well as the sweep rate. The combined effects of additive noise and window bias were such that the total bias was nearly independent of CRF slope. Sweep VEP contrast thresholds were shown empirically to be unaffected by changes in the range of contrast swept.

Adult↗

Development of contrast sensitivity in the human infant.

Contrast sensitivity and grating acuity were measured using the sweep VEP method in a group of 48 infants from 2 to 40 weeks of age and in a group of 10 adults. Sinusoidal gratings were reversed in contrast at 12 alternations per sec at a space-average luminance of 220 cd/m2. During 10 sec trials, either the contrast or the spatial frequency was increased in a series of 19 steps. Thresholds were estimated by extrapolation of the VEP response functions to zero amplitude. The contrast threshold at low spatial frequencies developed rapidly from 7% contrast at 2-3 weeks to an asymptote of 0.5% at 9 weeks. For adults, maximum sensitivity at low spatial frequencies was 0.32-0.22%. The sweep VEP estimate of grating acuity showed a gradual increase in spatial frequency with age, starting at 5 c/deg during the first month and reaching 16.3 c/deg at 8 months. The mean adult acuity was 31.9 c/deg. There appeared to be two phases in the development of contrast sensitivity and acuity. Between 4 and 9 weeks overall contrast sensitivity increased by a factor of 4-5 at all spatial frequencies. Beyond 9 weeks, contrast sensitivity at low spatial frequencies remained constant, while sensitivity increased systematically at higher spatial frequencies.

Adult↗

Effect of light scatter on the pattern reversal visual evoked response: comparison with psychophysical results.

The effect of light scatter on the pattern reversal visual evoked response (PVER) was studied in 6 normal subjects. The results were compared with contrast visual acuity, contrast sensitivity function, and glare disability. Light scatter was induced by translucent acrylic sheets. Visual acuity measured with the low-contrast charts decreased significantly (P < 0.0001) even with a small degree of light scatter. Contrast sensitivity decreased with a small degree of light scatter especially for high spatial frequencies. PVER amplitudes decreased especially at the smaller checks with its peak shifted to larger checks. PVER was equally sensitive to light scatter compared to psychophysical tests.

Adult↗

Chronotopographical analysis of the pattern onset visual evoked magnetic response (VEMR): implications for waveform peak identification.

The topography of the visual evoked magnetic response (VEMR) to a pattern onset stimulus was studied in five normal subjects using a single channel BTi magnetometer. Topographic distributions were analysed at regular intervals following stimulus onset (chronotopography). Two distinct field distributions were observed with half field stimulation: (1) activity corresponding to the C11 m which remains stable for an average of 34 msec and (2) activity corresponding to the C111 m which remains stable for about 50 msec. However, the full field topography of the largest peak within the first 130 msec does not have a predictable latency or topography in different subjects. The data suggest that the appearance of this peak is dependent on the amplitude, latency and duration of the half field C11 m peaks and the efficiency of half field summation. Hence, topographic mapping is essential to correctly identify the C11 m peak in a full field response as waveform morphology, peak latency and polarity are not reliable indicators.

Adult↗

Hemispheric asymmetry in the maturation of the extrastriate checkerboard onset evoked potential.

Recently we have shown that the single positive deflection in the checkerboard onset evoked potential (EP) of young children of striate origin develops into a negative-positive complex. However, also an early positive peak becomes apparent in the checkerboard onset EP. To determine the origin and development of the activity underlying this early positive deflection we studied the checkerboard onset EPs in children of 9-16 years of age. It was found that for the children in this age group two different dipole sources are responsible for the activity underlying the pattern onset EP. One of the dipoles corresponds to the activity generated in the striate cortex, whereas a second dipole of extrastriate origin is responsible for the appearance of the early positive deflection. This extrastriate activity shows hemispheric asymmetry, i.e. the strength of the right hemispheric extrastriate source exceeds the strength of the left hemispheric source. These results are in accordance with histological studies of Conel (1939-1963) [The postnatal development of the human cerebral cortex (Vols 1-8). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press] which show that the maturation of the extrastriate areas of the left hemisphere is delayed with respect to the right hemisphere.

Adolescent↗

Centrifugal inputs enhance responses of retinal ganglion cells in the Japanese quail without changing their spatial coding properties.

Centrifugal fibers originating in the midbrain innervate the avian retina. Stimulation of the centrifugal fibers enhances the responses of ganglion cells in the retinas of both chick and pigeon. The enhanced responses have been attributed to disinhibition, a reduction of the inhibitory surround component of the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells. We found that stimulation of the centrifugal fibers in Japanese quail enhances the responses of retinal ganglion cells to drifting sine-wave gratings over a wide range of spatial frequencies. Our results do not support the idea that centrifugal inputs selectively influence receptive field surrounds. We also found that centrifugal inputs changed the temporal response properties of retinal ganglion cells by enhancing their responses to sine-wave gratings drifting across the retina at higher temporal frequencies (> 5 Hz). The result shows that centrifugal inputs from the midbrain can enhance responses of retinal ganglion cells without affecting the center-surround organization of their receptive fields. The centrifugal modulation of retinal responses may have a role in shifting visual attention.

Animals↗

Extensive integration field beyond the classical receptive field of cat's striate cortical neurons--classification and tuning properties.

Length- and width-summation curves of striate cortex cells revealed that there exist facilitatory, inhibitory or disinhibitory integration fields (IF) beyond the sides and ends of the classical receptive field (RF). The extent of the IFs is most frequently 2-5 times the size of the RFs. The tuning properties of IFs were studied using an annular surround grating patch while an optimal centre patch was placed at the excitatory RF to continuously activate the cell. The results show that, for most cells, the orientation, spatial frequency and speed tuning of the IFs were similar to, but broader than, the tuning of the RF, whereas the direction selectivity of the IF was not as pronounced as that of the RF. The possible functional significance of the IF is discussed.

Animals↗

The development of motion sensitivity during the first year of life.

Using the sweep visual evoked potential (VEP), we have measured oscillatory displacement thresholds (OMTs) in 49 infants ranging in age from 7 to 54 weeks of age. The stimuli were high-contrast (80%), sine-wave gratings (1 c/deg) undergoing oscillatory displacements at 6 Hz. In addition to the motion thresholds, contrast thresholds for phase-reversing (6 Hz), 1 c/deg gratings were measured in the same session for 26 infants. In the main experiment, responses were recorded at the second harmonic (F2) of the stimulus frequency (12 Hz) under binocular viewing conditions. Our main finding is that, over the age range during which infants' peak contrast sensitivity (CS) first develops to within a factor of 2 of adult CS (9-12 weeks), infants' sensitivity to grating displacement is a factor of approximately 10 less than adults'. Moreover, infants' sensitivity to oscillatory motion undergoes relatively little development over the period between 2 and 15 months postnatal, gradually achieving a factor of 4.5 below adult values by 1 yr of age. Averaged over the entire age range tested, infants' OMTs were 167 sec arc, a factor of 6.4 times higher than the average OMT (26 sec arc) for 13 adults tested under identical conditions. In contrast, the infants' average CS for reversing gratings averaged only a factor of 2.5 less than the adults' average CS. In a second experiment, we took advantage of a developmental asymmetry in the monocular oscillatory motion VEP which allows for unambiguous identification of direction selective responses from very young infants. Monocular motion VEPs were measured in five infants (8-14 weeks) and their data analyzed at the fundamental frequency (F1). Responses at F1 were present in the monocular motion VEP from each infant and were 180 deg out of phase between the two eyes, identifying them as directional cortical responses with a nasalward/temporalward bias. These directional thresholds were equal to or lower than the symmetric (F2) thresholds. The presence of directional asymmetry in the motion VEP and the similarity of the monocular F1 and F2 OMTs support the notion that the OMTs measured in the main experiment were, in fact, derived from the responses of directionally selective cells in visual cortex. These data also imply that the OMTs are not derived from local contrast-reversal responses. Other models to explain infants' relative insensitivity to oscillatory motion are discussed.

Adult↗

Receptive fields of P and M ganglion cells across the primate retina.

We studied the receptive field organization and contrast sensitivity of ganglion cells located within the central 80 (radius of 40) deg of the macaque retina. Ganglion cell activity was monitored as synaptic (S) potentials recorded extracellularly in the lateral geniculate nuclei of anesthetized and paralyzed monkeys. Receptive field center and surround regions of magnocellularly-projecting (M) and parvocellularly-projecting (P) cells increase in area with distance from the fovea, with the center radii of M cells being about twice those of neighboring P cells. Peak sensitivities of center and surround regions are inversely proportional to the regions' areas, so that integrated contrast sensitivities (contrast gains) are constant across the visual field, with the gain of M cells being, on average, six times that of P cells. For both M and P cells, the average ratio of surround/center gain is 0.55. Constant gain of P cells across the visual field is achieved by increasing sensitivity to stimuli falling on the peripheral retina to an extent that counteracts the aberrations introduced by the eye's optics.

Animals↗

Magnetic and electrical brain responses to chromatic contrast in human.

Differences between magnetic responses to red-green chromatic gratings and yellow-black luminance gratings were: (1) response waveforms differed considerably; (2) at some recording sites the chromatic grating response was considerably greater than the sum of responses to the red and green components of the chromatic grating; (3) the latencies of the successive peaks in the response to the onset of chromatic contrast were greater than the latencies of the corresponding peaks in the response to luminance contrast onset; (4) chromatic grating responses were lowpass with respect to spatial frequency while luminance grating responses were bandpass; (5) chromatic grating responses attenuated more steeply with increasing frequency above 2 c/deg than did luminance grating responses. Items (3)-(5) above are consistent with well-known psychophysical findings that contrast sensitivity is lowpass for chromatic gratings and chromatic responses are more sluggish than luminance responses. In subsidiary experiments we found that magnetic responses to red-green and blue-yellow equiluminant gratings had similar waveforms in all six subjects tested, but the topographical distributions were different in three subjects. The results of comparing magnetic and electrical responses to the onset and offset of contrast can be understood in terms of the considerable intersubject variability in the relation between neuroanatomy and cortical function that has been demonstrated by other techniques.

Adult↗

Pattern reversal visual evoked potentials after alcohol administration among men at risk for alcoholism.

The P100 component of the pattern reversal visual evoked potential was used to compare men at high risk for alcoholism and control subjects before and after a low (0.5 g/kg) dose of ethanol. The high risk and control subjects did not differ in age, self-reported ethanol consumption, or estimates of ethanol metabolism rates, but changes in the occipital P100 latency differentiated them following ethanol administration. The P100 latency changes that distinguished high risk from control subjects were lateralized and provide preliminary evidence that perceptual visual stimulus processing is differentially affected in the two groups following ethanol administration.

Adult↗

Effect of the richness of the environment on neurons in cat visual cortex. II. Spatial and temporal frequency characteristics.

The quantitative distribution of synaptic contacts in the cat cerebral cortex is affected by the richness of the environment: the number of round-asymmetrical (RA) synapses per neuron is higher while the number of flat-symmetrical (FS) contacts is lower in the visual cortex of cats raised in an enriched environmental condition (EC) compared to those reared in an impoverished condition (IC). The size of FS synaptic contacts is also affected by the complexity of the animal's environment. It has been suggested that these morphological synaptic changes induced by the richness of the environment correlate with differences in physiological properties of the visual cortex. This question has been explored by assessing the cortical unit contrast sensitivity as a function of spatial and temporal frequency of area 17 cells in cats raised either in isolation (IC) or in a colony with ample environmental stimulation (EC). Contrast sensitivity is affected by the richness of the environment: at the preferred spatial frequency, an average enriched unit can detect lower contrasts (mean = 0.6%) than an average impoverished cell (0.9%; P less than 0.002). In addition, the mean highest spatial frequency that can be resolved (acuity) is greater in EC than in IC cells (1.7 and 1.2 cycles per degree, respectively, P less than 0.0001), whereas the spatial frequency at which units respond best is not statistically affected by the environment. The preferred temporal frequency also show a significant difference in EC (1.0-6.5 Hz) and IC units (0.9-4.0 Hz; P less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Detection of cerebral lateralization of function using EEG alpha-contingent visual stimulation II.

The replicative reliability of durations of alpha-blocking following visual stimulation over different cortical sites was assessed with the method of alpha-contingent stimulation. Fourteen right-handed undergraduates were tested in a randomized factorial design. Words or geometric designs of equal luminance were presented by computer to randomly selected visual half-fields contingent on the occurrence of alpha at one of 4 placements (left and right occipital and left and right temporal). The control (mean/s) of alpha-blocking durations was significantly greater for contralateral visual half-field stimulation compared to ipsilateral visual half-field stimulation. This and other results were interpreted in terms of the concept of replicative reliability of retinal-cortical connections to occipital and temporal lobes and affirm the validity and sensitivity of the method.

Adolescent↗