Compulsory averaging of crowded orientation signals in human vision
Compulsory averaging of crowded orientation signals in human vision
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DOI：
10.1038/89532
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发表时间：
2001-07-01
影响因子：
25
通讯作者：
Morgan, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Parkes, L;Lund, J;Morgan, M
当其他形状靠近时，该形状可能会更难以识别。例如，当从中央凹旁观察多个光栅斑块时，观察者无法报告中央斑块的方向。这种现象被称为“拥挤”，历史上一直与横向掩蔽相混淆，横向掩蔽是一种刺激减弱了另一种刺激产生的信号。在这里，我们表明，尽管观察者无法报告单个斑块的方向，但他们可以可靠地估计平均方向，证明局部方向信号是组合的而不是丢失的。我们的结果表明拥挤与普通掩蔽不同，并且可能与纹理感知有关。在拥挤的条件下，初级视觉皮层的方向信号在到达意识之前会被汇集起来。
A shape can be more difficult to identify when other shapes are near it. For example, when several grating patches are viewed parafoveally, observers are unable to report the orientation of the central patch. This phenomenon, known as 'crowding,' has historically been confused with lateral masking, in which one stimulus attenuates signals generated by another stimulus. Here we show that despite their inability to report the orientation of an individual patch, observers can reliably estimate the average orientation, demonstrating that the local orientation signals are combined rather than lost. Our results imply that crowding is distinct from ordinary masking, and is perhaps related to texture perception. Under crowded conditions, the orientation signals in primary visual cortex are pooled before they reach consciousness.