title: Central factors contributing to para-contrast modulation of contour and brightness perception.
abstract: Following up on a prior study of contour and brightness processing in visual masking (Breitmeyer et al., 2006), we investigated the effects of a binocular and dichoptic para-contrast masking on the visibility of the contour and brightness of a target presented to the other eye. Combined, the results support the contributions of several cortical processes to para-contrast: (1) two central sources of inhibition, one long-latency and prolonged and the other short-latency and brief; (2) binocular rivalry suppression; and (3) a facilitatory effect peaking at different SOAs for the contour and the brightness tasks, reflecting; (4) known properties of two separate cortical systems, one a fast contour-processing pathway and the other a slower brightness-processing pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5022, USA. brunob@uh.edu
authors.forename: Bruno G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Breitmeyer
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hauske
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology