title: Luminance-contrast properties of contour-shape processing revealed through the shape-frequency after-effect.
abstract: We investigated the first-order inputs to contour-shape mechanisms using the shape-frequency after-effect (SFAE), in which adaptation to a sinusoidally modulated contour causes a shift in the apparent shape-frequency of a test contour in a direction away from that of the adapting stimulus [Kingdom F. A. A., & Prins N. (2005a). Different mechanisms encode the shapes of contours and contour-textures. Journal of Vision 5(8), 463, (Abstract)]. We measured SFAEs for adapting and test contours (and edges) that differed in the contrast-polarity, scale (or blur) and magnitude of luminance contrast. The rationale was that if the SFAE was found to be reduced when adaptor and test differed along a particular dimension of luminance contrast, contour-shape mechanisms must be tuned to that dimension. Our results reveal that SFAEs manifest (i) a degree of selectivity to luminance contrast polarity for both even-symmetric (contours only) and odd-symmetric (both contours and edges) luminance profiles; (ii) a degree of selectivity to luminance scale (or blur); (iii) higher selectivity to fine compared to coarse scale for broadband edges (iv) a small preference for equal-in-contrast adaptors and tests. These results suggest that contour shapes are not encoded in the form of a sparse, cartoon-like sketch, as might be presumed by local energy (i.e. non-phase-selective) or form-cue invariant models, but instead in a form that is relatively 'feature-rich.'
authors.affiliation: McGill Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, McGill University, Montreal, Que, Canada. elena.gheorghiu@mail.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gheorghiu
authors.forename: Frederick A A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Kingdom
mesh_terms: D003196:Computer Graphics; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D005366:Figural Aftereffect; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics