Elsevier

Vision Research

Volume 15, Issues 8–9, August–September 1975, Pages 967-972
Vision Research

Orientation illusions and after-effects: Inhibition between channels

https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(75)90238-2Get rights and content

Abstract

The apparent tilt from vertical has been examined for vertical sinusoidal gratings in the presence of an inducing grating which was tilted 12° from vertical. The amount of apparent tilt depended on the contrast of the test grating. At high test contrasts, the grating appeared to be tilted about 2° clockwise; at low contrasts, near threshold, there was little or no apparent tilt. If the inducing grating and test grating were not contiguous but were separated by about 0.4°, there was no apparent tilt at any test contrast. The detection threshold for the test grating was elevated by the inducing grating only when the whole of the test grating was close to the inducing grating. It is argued that these results can be explained if there is an inhibitory interaction between detectors responding to similar orientations and subserving similar parts of the visual field.

References (34)

  • BlakemoreC. et al.

    Size adaptation: a new aftereffect

    Science, N.Y.

    (1969)
  • BlakemoreC. et al.

    Lateral inhibition between orientation detectors in the cat's visual cortex

    Expl Brain Res.

    (1972)
  • CarpenterR.H.S. et al.

    Interactions between orientations in human vision

    Expl Brain Res.

    (1973)
  • ColtheartM.

    Is there lateral inhibition in the visual cortex

    Nature, New Biol.

    (1971)
  • CreutzfeldtO.D. et al.

    An intra-cellular analysis of visual cortical neurones to moving stimuli: responses in a cooperative neuronal network

    Expl Brain Res.

    (1974)
  • DealyR.S. et al.

    Is spatial adaptation an aftereffect of prolonged inhibition

    J. Physiol., Lond.

    (1974)
  • DeutschJ.A.

    Neurophysiological contrast phenomena and figural aftereffects

    Psychol. Rev.

    (1964)
  • Cited by (104)

    • Temporal resolution and temporal extent of orientation repulsion

      2022, Vision Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      Repulsion becomes maximal when the target and inducer orientations differ by 10–20° and may change to assimilation when they differ by 75–80° (for a review, see Clifford, 2014). Although the static properties of orientation repulsion, such as spatial frequency selectivity (Georgeson, 1973), color selectivity (Clifford, Pearson, et al., 2003; Clifford, Spehar, et al., 2003), cue invariance (Smith, Clifford, & Wenderoth, 2001), interocular transfer (Forte & Clifford, 2005; Wade, 1980), contrast dependency (Pearson & Clifford, 2005; Tolhurst & Thompson, 1975), target–inducer distance dependency (Mareschal & Clifford, 2013; Virsu & Taskinen, 1975), and grouping/segmentation dependency (Durant & Clifford, 2006; Qiu, Kersten, & Olman, 2013), have been extensively investigated, little is known about its dynamic properties. A temporal parameter known to be critical for repulsion is the target–inducer stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA).

    • A review of visual aftereffects in schizophrenia

      2019, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
      Citation Excerpt :

      This type of change in neural responsivity over time is commonly observed at the single-neuron level (Albrecht et al., 1984; Barlow and Hill, 1963; Kohn and Movshon, 2003), and there is no doubt that it happens during aftereffect paradigms. The perceptual phenomena that define aftereffects, however, are likely the result of a more complex interplay between many neurons that differ in the degree to which their responsivity is affected during the adaptation period (Grunewald and Lankheet, 1996; Mather, 1980; Sutherland, 1961; Tolhurst and Thompson, 1975). For instance, the perception of a contour's orientation is plausibly rooted in the collective pattern of neural responses among neurons that are tuned to orientation, i.e. that each responds optimally to a given, preferred, orientation and less to different orientations.

    • How visual short-term memory maintenance modulates the encoding of external input: Evidence from concurrent visual adaptation and TMS

      2013, NeuroImage
      Citation Excerpt :

      Furthermore, the inhibition of visual input by VSTM appears to be stronger when they contain the same features and thus activate the same feature-specific mechanisms in the visual system. In the present study, this is likely to have involved competition within the orientation channels (e.g. Blakemore and Campbell, 1969; Campbell and Maffei, 1971; Tolhurst and Thompson, 1975), with the engagement of orientation channels by VSTM making them less sensitive to visual input. The reduction of TAE magnitude by concurrent VSTM maintenance of matching orientation was most robust when both the adapter and the memory cue had an orientation of 20°; this reduction was found in all the experiments reported here (including Experiment 1d where attentional allocation to the adapter was ensured with catch trials).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text