title: Encoding and estimation of first- and second-order binocular disparity in natural images.
abstract: The first stage of processing of binocular information in the visual cortex is performed by mechanisms that are bandpass-tuned for spatial frequency and orientation. Psychophysical and physiological evidence have also demonstrated the existence of second-order mechanisms in binocular processing, which can encode disparities that are not directly accessible to first-order mechanisms. We compared the responses of first- and second-order binocular filters to natural images. We found that the responses of the second-order mechanisms are to some extent correlated with the responses of the first-order mechanisms, and that they can contribute to increasing both the accuracy, and depth range, of binocular stereopsis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK; School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's Quad, South Street, St Andrews, KY16 9JP Scotland, UK. Electronic address: phibbard@essex.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Hibbard
authors.affiliation: Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goutcher
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's Quad, South Street, St Andrews, KY16 9JP Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Hunter
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011601:Psychophysics; D015357:Vision Disparity / Q000502:physiology*; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Binocular disparity; Binocular energy model; Depth perception; Natural images; Second-order stereopsis