PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Form Perception”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources

Spatial frequency tuned channels: implications for structure and function from psychophysical and computational studies of stereopsis.

Various psychophysical experiments investigating the role of spatial frequency tuned channels in stereopsis are reviewed and a computational model of stereopsis deriving from these studies is described. The distinctive features of the model are: (1) it identifies edge locations in each monocular field by searching for zero crossings in non-orientated centre-surround convolution profiles; (2) it selects among all possible binocular point-for-point combinations of edge locations only those which satisfy a (quasi-) collinear figural grouping rule; (3) it presents a concept of the orientated and spatial frequency tuned channel as a nonlinear grouping operator. The success of the model is demonstrated both on a stereo pair of a natural scene and on a random-dot stereogram.

Computers↗

The perception of apparent movement.

When two similar pictures, overlapping but slightly displaced, were projected on a screen in alternation, apparent movement could be seen. How similar must successive pictures be to give apparent movement? This is the 'correspondence problem'. Manipulations of the local and global correspondences between pictures included motion phenomena such as reversed apparent movement; a four-stroke oscillatory cycle which gave an illusion of continuous motion in one direction; edges defined by texture, stereoscopic depth, or flicker, kinetic edges; and wave motion. It was concluded that human motion perception may comprise two separate mechanisms. Local point-by-point correlations between pictures are detected by a relatively peripheral system, probably based on directonally selective neural units. More subtle global correspondences are analysed by a more cognitive system which extracts edges before it process motion.

Afterimage↗

Shape from specularities: computation and psychophysics.

Images of artificial and natural scenes typically contain many 'specularities' generated by mirror-like reflection from glossy surfaces. Until fairly recently computational models of visual processes have tended to regard specularities as obscuring underlying scene structure. Mathematical modelling shows that, on the contrary, they are rich in local geometric information. Recent psychophysical findings support the notion that the brain can apply that information. Our results concern the inference of 3D structure from 2D shaded images of glossy surfaces. Stereoscopically viewed highlights or 'specularities' are found to serve as cues for 3D local surface-geometry.

Cues↗

Voluntary head movement and allocentric perception of space.

Although visual input is egocentric, at least some visual perceptions and representations are allocentric, that is, independent of the observer's vantage point or motion. Three experiments investigated the visual perception of three-dimensional object motion during voluntary and involuntary motion in human subjects. The results show that the motor command contributes to the objective perception of space: Observers are more likely to apply, consciously and unconsciously, spatial criteria relative to an allocentric frame of reference when they are executing voluntary head movements than while they are undergoing similar involuntary displacements (which lead to a more egocentric bias). Furthermore, details of the motor command are crucial to spatial vision, as allocentric bias decreases or disappears when self-motion and motor command do not match.

Awareness↗

Perceived structure from optic flow: consistent versus variable mapping of 3-D Euclidean structure.

In an earlier study (Börjesson & Lind, 1996), the perception of Euclidean structure from polar projected two-frame apparent motion sequences was studied. The results showed that Euclidean structure is not perceived. However, at larger visual angles a certain consistency in the mapping between distal and perceived structure exists. The aim of the present study was to more precisely examine how this degree of consistency varies as a function of visual angle. In Experiments 1 and 2, slant judgments of simulated and real planes indicated that the degree of consistency is a positive function of visual angle. No definite sign of a Euclidean mapping could, however, be found even in the full view condition. Experiment 3 examined texture gradients and the response method used. The results showed that texture gradients did not influence the degree of consistency of the mapping between distal and judged depth and that the response method was both reliable and valid. However, texture gradients did influence the absolute values of the slant judgments. The role of Euclidean and affine mappings of distal structure is discussed and it is proposed that the perceptually important distinction is not between affine and Euclidean mapping, but rather between two types of affine mappings--consistent and variable.

Analysis of Variance↗

Perception of three-dimensional shape from specular highlights, deformations of shading, and other types of visual information.

There have been numerous computational models developed in an effort to explain how the human visual system analyzes three-dimensional (3D) surface shape from patterns of image shading, but they all share some important limitations. Models that are applicable to individual static images cannot correctly interpret regions that contain specular highlights, and those that are applicable to moving images have difficulties when a surface moves relative to its sources of illumination. Here we describe a psychophysical experiment that measured the sensitivity of human observers to small differences of 3D shape over a wide variety of conditions. The results provide clear evidence that the presence of specular highlights or the motions of a surface relative to its light source do not pose an impediment to perception, but rather, provide powerful sources of information for the perceptual analysis of 3D shape.

Depth Perception↗

Subcortical visual system of the African mole-rat Cryptomys anselli: to see or not to see?

Abstract We studied the retinal projections, the distribution of cytochrome oxidase activity and the cyto- and myeloarchitecture of the subcortical visual system in the subterranean Ansell's mole-rat Cryptomys anselli. The optic nerve contained 1500 myelinated and a similar number of unmyelinated fibres. The retina projected to all the visual structures described in surface-dwelling sighted rodents. The suprachiasmatic nucleus was large and received bilateral retinal input. All other visual nuclei were reduced in size, were cytoarchitecturally poorly developed and received almost exclusively contralateral retinal projections. The dorsal and ventral lateral geniculate nuclei were moderately reduced and heavily innervated. The intergeniculate leaflet could be identified between these two nuclei. Pretectal nuclei were also relatively well-developed. The nucleus of the optic tract, the olivary pretectal nucleus, and the anterior and posterior pretectal nuclei were innervated by the retina. By contrast, the superficial, retinorecipient layers of the superior colliculus showed extreme reduction. The strata zonale, griseum superficiale and opticum were collapsed to a single layer 40 micro m thick. The accessory optic system was vestigial. These findings indicate that the functional subsystems involved in photoperiod perception, form and brightness discrimination, and movement analysis are anatomically rather well developed, whereas those involved in coordination of visuomotor reflexes are severely reduced. Thus, the visual system of C. anselli is much better developed than that of the blind mole-rat Spalax ehrenbergi. We suggest that Cryptomys anselli has retained basic visual capabilities.

Animals↗

Two metamodels of causal effects.

Two metamodels, termed Model S and Model V, are proposed for definition, measurement, and generalization of quantitative causal effects. The effect is defined as a part change in score in Model S and as a part change in variance in Model V. Two additional changes, total and remainder change, are defined. The latter is due to all other factors or variables than the cause, while total change is the sum of remainder and effect change. Furthermore, it is shown how contrafactual concepts, which imply that some parts of the study situation are supposed to be otherwise, enter into the metamodels. Casual effects are defined and measured in terms of non-contrafactual concepts, except that statistical induction includes contrafactual as well as non-contrafactual inferences. Non-statistical generalization involves both kinds of inferences. Contrafactual definitions are considered inadequate, and a contrafactual interpretation of statistical adjustment is unnecessary and should be replaced by a non-contrafactual one.

Adult↗

A Müller-Lyer-type illusion of egocentric distance with 3D convex and concave objects.

An illusion of egocentric distance with concave and convex objects at a distance of 135 cm is reported. When the centre of a concave object was viewed with both eyes its surface appeared nearer than the centre of the surface of a convex object at the same distance. The distortion was about two per cent of the viewing distance with right-angle objects and about five per cent with hemicylindrical objects. The distortion was slightly reduced when size cues for distance were attached to the surfaces of the objects, absent with monocular viewing, greater with convex than with concave objects, and occurred with the generally convex surface of a model human face. Possible explanations of the findings are discussed.

Defense Mechanisms↗

Clock drawing in Alzheimer's disease. A novel measure of dementia severity.

We have tested a simple and reliable measure of visuospatial ability in Alzheimer patients--the Clock Drawing Test. To determine the usefulness of this measure, we asked 67 Alzheimer patients and 83 normal controls to draw the face of a clock reading the time of 2:45. Six independent observers blindly evaluated the results with ratings from 10 (best) to 1 (worst). The mean performance score of Alzheimer subjects was 4.9 +/- 2.7 compared to 8.7 +/- 1.1 for normal controls (P less than .001). Inter-rater reliability for the clocks drawn by Alzheimer patients was highly significant (r = 0.86; P less than .001), and there was relatively little overlap between ratings for Alzheimer patients and normal controls. Furthermore, correlations were highly significant (P less than .001) between the mean score of clock drawings and three independent global measures of dementia severity. Although the Clock Drawing Test is certainly not a definitive indicator of Alzheimer's disease, the test is easy to administer and provides a useful measure of dementia severity for both research and office settings where sophisticated neuropsychological testing is not available.

Aged↗

Visual form agnosia in multiple sclerosis.

We report a case of multiple sclerosis with visual form agnosia and callosal syndromes. Initially, the patient's visual recognition of object form was severely disturbed at the perceptual stage, in association with left-sided ideomotor apraxia and agraphia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed large white matter lesions in the bilateral frontal and occipital lobes, the latter extending to the occipitotemporal junction, and widespread corpus callosum lesions. Over the course of one year follow-up, neuropsychological examinations indicated that the patient's visual recognition defects occurred not only at the early substage of form perception, but also at the stage of reproducing the shape of objects from visual memory store. The present case suggests that neural connections between the striate cortex and occipitotemporal visual areas are crucial for both the perceptual and associative stages of visual object recognition.

Agnosia↗

Cortical magnification factor and contrast sensitivity to luminance-modulated chromatic gratings.

Contrast sensitivity to luminance-modulated blue, green, red, and neutral gratings was measured at different spatial frequencies and eccentricities within 0-86 deg in the temporal visual field. Contrast sensitivity to gratings of constant area and spatial frequency was independent of wavelength composition but decreased with increasing eccentricity. When the gratings were scaled by the magnification factor of the human striate cortex to produce cortically similar stimulus conditions at different eccentricities (M-scaling), contrast sensitivities became independent of visual field location irrespective of grating colour. Using colour naming we found, in accordance with previous studies, that hue changed and saturation decreased when the eccentricity of a constant-size grating field increased. In contrast, the hue and saturation of M-scaled grating fields were independent of eccentricity. The results suggest that the effects of eccentricity on photopic colour vision can largely be counteracted by M-scaling which adjusts the spatial aspects of stimuli with respect to the decrease in ganglion cell density and increase in receptive field size towards the periphery of the visual field.

Color Perception↗