Form Processing in Peripheral Vision

描述(申请人提供)：老年性黄斑变性和其他黄斑疾病通常会导致不可逆转的中央视野丧失。在这些中央视野丧失(CFL)的情况下，患者必须依靠外围视觉来识别物体，识别人脸，以及 朗读。然而，在这些形式视觉任务中的表现远远不如外围视觉预测的空间分辨率降低。这种过度减值的原因并不是很清楚。此外，我们不知道外周视觉系统可以在多大程度上诱导变化来缓解长期的这些损害，我们也不了解这种可塑性的本质。如果我们要为中心性视力丧失患者开发有效的康复方案和适应技术，那么对外周形式视力的基本了解是必要的。一个同样重要的进步将是理解为什么与中央视觉相比，形式视觉在质量上不如中央视觉。这项拟议的研究旨在为我们对周围形态视觉的理解取得基础性进展，并以一种与CFL状况相关的方式做到这一点。我们建议从主动视觉的角度来研究外周形式视觉，其中眼球运动控制起着核心作用。具体地说，我们将集中在视觉拥挤的可塑性和CFL引起的眼球运动策略变化之间的相互作用。我们将首先测试一种新的理论，该理论将正常周边视力中的拥挤与在眼球跳动影响下获得的图像统计数据联系起来。我们将在最近发展的理论框架的基础上，建立早期视觉处理阶段的图像编码模型。这一外周形式视觉模型将根据文献中关于拥挤的不同发现进行定量验证。另外，我们将测试一种新的眼动发育理论，该理论描述了首选视网膜轨迹(PRL)的形成，这是CFL中的一种常见调整。图像编码模型将使我们能够在给定PRL的情况下预测形式视觉可塑性的性质。因此，这项研究项目将提供第一个在中心视野丧失的情况下的外围形式视觉的全面理论。此外，它还将产生丰富而独特的外周形态视觉和动眼适应数据集，为其他外周形态视觉的研究提供信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Age-related macular degeneration and other macular diseases commonly lead to irreversible loss of the central visual field. In these cases of central field loss (CFL), patients must rely on peripheral vision to recognize objects, identify faces, and read. However, performance on these form vision tasks is far worse than the reduced spatial resolution in peripheral vision predicts. The causes of this excess impairment are not well understood. Further, we do not know to what extent changes can be induced in the peripheral visual system to alleviate these impairments over the long term, nor do we understand the nature of such plasticity. A basic understanding of peripheral form vision is necessary if we are to develop effective rehabilitation regimens and adaptive technologies for patients with central vision loss. An equally important advance would be to understand why form vision is qualitatively inferior in peripheral compared to central vision. The proposed study aims to make foundational advances in our understanding of peripheral form vision, and does so in a way that is relevant for the condition of CFL. We propose to study peripheral form vision from the perspective of active vision, where oculomotor control plays a central role. Specifically, we will focus on the interaction between plasticity in visual crowding, a key form vision deficit in the periphery, and changes in oculomotor strategy induced by CFL. We will begin by testing a novel theory that links crowding in normal peripheral vision to image statistics that have been acquired under the influence of saccadic eye movements. We will build an image-encoding model of early visual processing stages based on the theoretical framework we recently developed. This model of peripheral form vision will be validated quantitatively against a diverse set of findings on crowding in the literature. Separately, we will test a new theory of oculomotor development that describes the formation of the preferred retinal locus (PRL), which is a common adjustment in CFL. The image-encoding model will enable us to predict the nature of form vision plasticity given a PRL. This research project thus stands to provide the first comprehensive theory of peripheral form vision in the context of central field loss. In addition, it will produce a rich an unique data set on peripheral form vision and oculomotor adaptation that will inform other investigations of peripheral form vision.