ABSTRACTDiscerning objects from their surrounds (i.e., figure-ground segmentation) in a way that guides adaptive behaviours is a fundamental task of the brain. Neurophysiological work has revealed a class of cells in the macaque visual cortex that may be ideally suited to support this neural computation: border-ownership cells (Zhou, Friedman, & von der Heydt, 2000). These orientation-tuned cells appear to respond conditionally to the borders of objects. A behavioural correlate supporting the existence of these cells in humans was demonstrated using two-dimensional luminance defined objects (von der Heydt, Macuda, & Qiu, 2005). However, objects in our natural visual environments are often signalled by complex cues, such as motion and depth order. Thus, for border-ownership systems to effectively support figure-ground segmentation and object depth ordering, they must have access to information from multiple depth cues with strict depth order selectivity. Here we measure in humans (of both sexes) border-ownership-dependent tilt aftereffects after adapting to figures defined by either motion parallax or binocular disparity. We find that both depth cues produce a tilt aftereffect that is selective for figure-ground depth order. Further, we find the effects of adaptation are transferable between cues, suggesting that these systems may combine depth cues to reduce uncertainty (Bülthoff & Mallot, 1988). These results suggest that border-ownership mechanisms have strict depth order selectivity and access to multiple depth cues that are jointly encoded, providing compelling psychophysical support for their role in figure-ground segmentation in natural visual environments.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSegmenting a visual object from its surrounds is a critical function that may be supported by “border-ownership” neural systems that conditionally respond to object borders. Psychophysical work indicates these systems are sensitive to objects defined by luminance contrast. To effectively support figure-ground segmentation, however, neural systems supporting border-ownership must have access to information from multiple depth cues and depth order selectivity. We measured border-ownership-dependent tilt aftereffects to figures defined by either motion parallax or binocular disparity and found aftereffects for both depth cues. These effects were transferable between cues, but selective for figure-ground depth order. Our results suggest that the neural systems supporting figure-ground segmentation have strict depth order selectivity and access to multiple depth cues that are jointly encoded.
Surface orientation, modulation frequency and the detection and perception of depth defined by binocular disparity and motion parallax