title: How many pathways determine the speed of grating detection?
abstract: Reaction time (RT) for detection of gratings of different spatial frequencies (SF, 0.87-13.87 c/d) and contrast (2-32 times above the detection threshold) was measured. It was found that at low stimulus contrast, 2 and 4 times above the detection threshold, the dependence of mean RT on SF is an "S"-type function with the two plateaus 50-60 ms apart. The standard deviation (SD) increases significantly for SFs within the range 2.60-6.93 c/deg and this coincides with the transition of mean RT from one plateau to another. At higher contrast the dependence of RT on the SF is a monotonically increasing function without any plateau and SD does not demonstrate any extrema within the entire SF-range. The results suggest that RT is determined by two mechanisms (transient and sustained) at low contrast, and by one (transient) mechanism at higher contrasts.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad G Bonchev St Bl 23, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria. mitov@iph.bio.bas.bg
authors.forename: Dimitar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitov
authors.forename: Tsvetalin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Totev
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*