A stereoscopic view of visual processing streams

doi:10.1016/0042-6989(90)90165-H

Vision Research

Volume 30, Issue 11, 1990, Pages 1877-1895

https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(90)90165-H Get rights and content

Abstract

Recent anatomical and physiological studies of the visual pathway suggest the existence of at least three parallel processing streams in the lateral geniculate/primary cortex structure—a magno/ interblob stream for motion and transient information; a parvo/interblob stream for high spatial frequency, static information; and a parvo/blob stream for chromatic and low spatial frequency information. How does this functional typology relate to the processing for stereoscopic depth? Human stereopsis may be viewed as consisting of three distinct types of disparity processing: coarse, local stereopsis suitable for stereomovement processing by the magno/interblob stream; fine, global stereopsis suitable for the processing of complex random-dot stereograms by the parvo/interblob stream; and simple, protostereopsis for processing size differences between the two eyes by the parvo/blob stream. Extensive psychophysical evidence supports the identification of these three disparity processes with the three processing streams.

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Citation Excerpt :
These findings provide support for our results. In general, the ventral visual stream processes high spatial frequency, static information to represent fine and global stereopsis suitable for the processing of complex random-dot stereograms and recognizing objects (Tyler, 1990). The relationship between stereoacuity deficiency and abnormal EC within the ventral visual stream we found here may underlie defective fine and global stereopsis processing in patients with amblyopia.
The neural basis underlying stereopsis defects in patients with amblyopia remains unclear, which hinders the development of clinical therapy. This study aimed to investigate visual network abnormalities in patients with amblyopia and their associations with stereopsis function. Spectral dynamic causal modeling methods were employed for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data to investigate the effective connectivity (EC) among 14 predefined regions of interest in the dorsal and ventral visual pathways. We adopted two independent datasets, including a cross-sectional and a longitudinal dataset. In the cross-sectional dataset, we compared group differences in EC between 31 patients with amblyopia (mean age: 26.39 years old) and 31 healthy controls (mean age: 25.71 years old) and investigated the association between EC and stereoacuity. In addition, we explored EC changes after perceptual learning in a novel longitudinal dataset including 9 patients with amblyopia (mean age: 15.78 years old). We found consistent evidence from the two datasets indicating that the aberrant EC from V2v to LO2 is crucial for the stereoscopic deficits in the patients with amblyopia: it was weaker in the patients than in the controls, showed a positive linear relationship with the stereoscopic function, and increased after perceptual learning in the patients. In addition, higher-level dorsal (V3d, V3A, and V3B) and ventral areas (LO1 and LO2) were important nodes in the network of abnormal ECs associated with stereoscopic deficits in the patients with amblyopia. Our research provides insights into the neural mechanism underlying stereopsis deficits in patients with amblyopia and provides candidate targets for focused stimulus interventions to enhance the efficacy of clinical treatment for the improvement of stereopsis deficiency.
Thresholds for sine-wave corrugations defined by binocular disparity in random dot stereograms: Factor analysis of individual differences reveals two stereoscopic mechanisms tuned for spatial frequency
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Citation Excerpt :
The representative shape of the DSF has often been interpreted as evidence of multiple mechanisms, “channels”, or “high-level mechanisms” underlying the DSF. The low spatial frequency decrease in sensitivity has been explained in terms of multiple spatially-tuned disparity mechanisms, which interact through receptive fields’ lateral inhibition (Tyler & Julesz, 1978; Schumer & Ganz, 1979; Tyler, 1990). Additionally, to many, the stereo anisotropy implies that distinct neuronal mechanisms are involved in detecting slant about the horizontal and vertical axes.
Threshold functions for sinusoidal depth corrugations typically reach their minimum (highest sensitivity) at spatial frequencies of 0.2–0.4 cycles/degree (cpd), with lower thresholds for horizontal than vertical corrugations at low spatial frequencies. To elucidate spatial frequency and orientation tuning of stereoscopic mechanisms, we measured the disparity sensitivity functions, and used factor analytic techniques to estimate the existence of independent underlying stereo channels. The data set (N = 30 individuals) was for horizontal and vertical corrugations of spatial frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 1.6 cpd. A principal component analysis of disparity sensitivities (log-arcsec) revealed that two significant factors accounted for 70% of the variability. Following Varimax rotation to approximate “simple structure”, one factor clearly loaded onto low spatial frequencies (≤0.4 cpd), and a second was tuned to higher spatial frequencies (≥0.8 cpd). Each factor had nearly identical tuning (loadings) for horizontal and vertical patterns. The finding of separate factors for low and high spatial frequencies is consistent with previous studies. The failure to find separate factors for horizontal and vertical corrugations is somewhat surprising because the neuronal mechanisms are believed to be different. Following an oblique rotation (Direct Oblimin), the two factors correlated significantly, suggesting some interdependence rather than full independence between the two factors.
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Several previous studies reported differences when stereothresholds are assessed with local-contour stereograms vs. complex random-dot stereograms (RDSs). Dissimilar thresholds may be due to differences in the properties of the stereograms (e.g. spatial frequency content, contrast, inter-element separation, area) or to different underlying processing mechanisms. This study examined the transfer of perceptual learning of depth discrimination between local and global RDSs with similar properties, and vice versa. If global and local stereograms are processed by separate neural mechanisms, then the magnitude and rate of training for the two types of stimuli are likely to differ, and the transfer of training from one stimulus type to the other should be minimal. Based on previous results, we chose RDSs with element densities of 0.17% and 28.3% to serve as the local and global stereograms, respectively. Fourteen inexperienced subjects with normal binocular vision were randomly assigned to either a local- or global- RDS training group. Stereothresholds for both stimulus types were measured before and after 7700 training trials distributed over 10 sessions. Stereothresholds for the trained condition improve for approximately 3000 trials, by an average of 0.36 ± 0.08 for local and 0.29 ± 0.10 for global RDSs, and level off thereafter. Neither the rate nor the magnitude of improvement differ statistically between the local- and global-training groups. Further, no significant difference exists in the amount of improvement on the trained vs. the untrained targets for either training group. These results are consistent with the operation of a single mechanism to process both local and global stereograms.
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To study the spatial extent and shape of the binocular disparity mechanisms subserving depth perception, we employ the spatial summation paradigm of contrast threshold for front/back depth discrimination at a fixed binocular disparity. The stimuli were Gabor patches with disparity set at either 4 or 8 arcmin and spatial frequency set at an optimal value of 4 cy/deg. Contrast threshold was measured as a function of length and width of the Gabor patches to determine the aspect ratio of greatest efficiency. The space constant of the Gaussian envelope varied between 0.0375° and 0.9° in either vertical or horizontal directions, or both simultaneously. For vertical elongation of the Gabor patches, discrimination sensitivity improved by 4–6 dB for a doubling of the length of the Gabor patches, then reduced more slowly as the length further increased. However, extending the Gabor patches horizontally across cycles produced little or no sensitivity improvement. Instead, discrimination performance collapsed in a fashion that is incompatible with many models of disparity processing. The results imply that the main mechanisms subserving stereoscopic depth discrimination are vertically elongated for vertical-bar Gabors and encounter special difficulties integrating horizontal disparity information. Disparity discrimination sensitivity for very small targets was also much greater than predicted by the single-mechanism fit, implying the presence of a second, independent mechanism with a very small summation field, which may underlie the fine stereoscopic processing system.
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A stereoscopic view of visual processing streams

Abstract

Trends in Neuroscience

Vision Research

Vision Research

Neuroscience Letters

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Vision Research

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Journal of Theoretical Biology

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Vision Research

Vision Research

Vision Research

A new kind of stereopic vision

Vision Research

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Science

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Journal of Physiology, London

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Journal of the Optical Society of America

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Segregation of form, color and stereopsis in primate area 18

Journal of Neuroscience

Anomalies of disparity detection in the human visual system

Journal of Physiology, London

Towards the automation of binocular depth perception (AUTOMAP-I)

Foundations of cyclopean perception

Global stereopsis: Cooperative phenomena in stereoscopic depth perception

Independent spatial-frequency-tuned channels in binocular fusion and rivalry

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Biological Cybernetics

Large evoked-potentials to dynamic random-dot correlograms and stereograms permit quick determination of stereopsis

Experiments on binocular vision

Transactions of the Optical Society

Psychophysical evidence for separate channels for the perception of form, color, movement and depth

Journal of Neuroscience