title: A Cross Modal Performance-Based Measure of Sensory Stimuli Intricacy.
abstract: We define a new measure of sensory stimuli which has the following properties: It is cross modal, performance based, robust, and well defined. We interpret this measure as the intricacy or complexity of the stimuli, yet its validity is independent of its interpretation. We tested the validity and cross modality of our measure using three olfactory and one visual experiment. In order to test the link between our measure and cognitive performance we also conducted an additional visual experiment. We found that our measure is correlated with the results of the well-established Rapid Serial Visual Presentation masking experiment. Specifically, ranking stimuli according to our measure was correlated at r = 0.75 (p < 0.002) with masking effectiveness. Thus, our novel measure of sensory stimuli provides a new quantitative tool for the study of sensory processing.
authors: Dept of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors: Kobi
authors: K
authors: Snitz
authors: Dept of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors: Anat
authors: A
authors: Arzi
authors: Dept of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors: Merav
authors: M
authors: Jacobson
authors: Dept of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors: Lavi
authors: L
authors: Secundo
authors: Dept of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors: Kineret
authors: K
authors: Weissler
authors: Dept of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors: Adi
authors: A
authors: Yablonka
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009812:Odorants; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012677:Sensation; D012737:Sex Factors