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The relative contributions of colour and luminance signals towards the visuomotor localisation of targets in human peripheral vision

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Abstract

We sought to determine the extent to which colour (and luminance) signals contribute towards the visuomotor localization of targets. To do so we exploited the movement-related illusory displacement a small stationary window undergoes when it has a continuously moving carrier grating behind it. We used drifting (1.0–4.2 Hz) red/green-modulated isoluminant gratings or yellow/black luminance-modulated gratings as carriers, each curtailed in space by a stationary, two-dimensional window. After each trial, the perceived location of the window was recorded with reference to an on-screen ruler (perceptual task) or the on-screen touch of a ballistic pointing movement made without visual feedback (visuomotor task). Our results showed that the perceptual displacement measures were similar for each stimulus type and weakly dependent on stimulus drift rate. However, while the visuomotor displacement measures were similar for each stimulus type at low drift rates (<4 Hz), they were significantly larger for luminance than colour stimuli at high drift rates (>4 Hz). We show that the latter cannot be attributed to differences in perceived speed between stimulus types. We assume, therefore, that our visuomotor localization judgements were more susceptible to the (carrier) motion of luminance patterns than colour patterns. We suggest that, far from being detrimental, this susceptibility may indicate the operation of mechanisms designed to counter the temporal asynchrony between perceptual experiences and the physical changes in the environment that give rise to them. We propose that perceptual localisation is equally supported by both colour and luminance signals but that visuomotor localisation is predominantly supported by luminance signals. We discuss the neural pathways that may be involved with visuomotor localization.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the 21st Century COE program (D-10 to Kyoto University), MEXT, Japan; NICT; and JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (17200019, 18203036).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 6068501, Japan

    Hiroshi Ashida

  2. Multimodal Communication Group, National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan

    Hiroshi Ashida

  3. ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan

    Noriko Yamagishi

  4. Biological ICT Group, National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan

    Noriko Yamagishi

  5. Neurosciences, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK

    Stephen J. Anderson

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  1. Hiroshi Ashida
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  2. Noriko Yamagishi
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Ashida.

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Ashida, H., Yamagishi, N. & Anderson, S.J. The relative contributions of colour and luminance signals towards the visuomotor localisation of targets in human peripheral vision. Exp Brain Res 183, 425–434 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-1059-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-1059-0

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