Surround modulation in visual cortex can predict border-ownership selectivity: psychophysical study of border-ownership-dependent tilt aftereffect.
Recent physiological studies revealed that neurons in the macaque visual cortex encode the direction of a figure along a contour (border ownership, BO). Although their cortical mechanisms have not been clarified, a computational model for BO has suggested that surround modulation in early vision can play an important role. Here we examined psychophysically how the strength of BO-dependent tilt aftereffect (BO-TAE) is modulated by a stimulus outside the adapted location in relation to the strength of surround modulation reported in physiological experiments. The results showed systematic change of the strength of BO-TAE, depending on the difference in orientation and spatial frequency between the bars placed outside and at the adapted location, indicating a crucial role of surround modulation in the neural mechanism underlying BO selectivity.
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 603, Rochester, New York 14642, USA.
Tadashi
T
Sugihara
Yoshihisa
Y
Tsuji
Ko
K
Sakai
D000818:Animals; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008959:Models, Neurological; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*