title: 3D after-effects are due to shape and not disparity adaptation.
abstract: There are a variety of stereoscopic after-effects in which exposure to a stimulus with a particular slant or curvature affects the perceived slant or curvature of a subsequently presented stimulus. These after-effects have been explained as a consequence of fatigue (a decrease in responsiveness) among neural mechanisms that are tuned to particular disparities or patterns of disparity. In fact, a given disparity pattern is consistent with numerous slants or curvatures; to determine slant or curvature, the visual system must take the viewing distance into account. We took advantage of this property to examine whether the mechanisms underlying the stereoscopic curvature after-effect are tuned to particular disparity patterns or to some other property such as surface curvature. The results clearly support the second hypothesis. Thus, 3D after-effects appear to be caused by adaptation among mechanisms specifying surface shape rather than among mechanisms signaling the disparity pattern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. fulvio_domini@brown.edu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Domini
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Banks
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000360:Afterimage / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015357:Vision Disparity / Q000502:physiology*