Aging and the depth of binocular rivalry suppression.
Two experiments were designed to examine the effect of aging on the strength of binocular rivalry suppression. To produce rivalry, orthogonally oriented sine-wave luminance gratings were presented dichoptically. The observers were then required either to discriminate the spatial location of a probe spot presented to the dominant or suppressed eye's view or to detect the presence or absence of the probe. The observers in the younger and older age groups exhibited typical rivalry suppression for both tasks (i.e., the probe was more difficult to detect or discriminate when presented to the suppressed eye), but the magnitude of the suppression was significantly larger in the older observers. This increased suppression that accompanies aging can be explained by a reduction in the inhibition produced by the binocular matching circuitry of S. R. Lehky and R. Blake's (1991) model.
Norman
J Farley
JF
Department of Psychology, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Boulevard #21030, Bowling Green, KY 42101, USA. Farley.Norman@wku.edu
Norman
Hideko F
HF
Pattison
Kristina
K
Taylor
M Jett
MJ
Goforth
Katherine E
KE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003867:Depth Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D015357:Vision Disparity