Interaction of retinal image and eye velocity in motion perception.
When we move our eyes, why does the world look stable even as its image flows across our retinas, and why do afterimages, which are stationary on the retinas, appear to move? Current theories say this is because we perceive motion by summation: if an object slips across the retina at r degrees/s while the eye turns at e degrees/s, the object's perceived velocity in space should be r + e. We show that activity in MT+, the visual-motion complex in human cortex, does reflect a mix of r and e rather than r alone. But we show also that, for optimal perception, r and e should not summate; rather, the signals coding e interact multiplicatively with the spatial gradient of illumination.
Goltz
Herbert C
HC
CIHR Group on Action and Perception, University of Western Ontario, London N6A 5C1, Canada.
DeSouza
Joseph F X
JF
Menon
Ravi S
RS
Tweed
Douglas B
DB
Vilis
Tutis
T
D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*