Mouse retinal specializations reflect knowledge of natural environment statistics

SummaryPressures for survival drive sensory circuit adaption to a species’ habitat, making it essential to statistically characterise natural scenes. Mice, a prominent visual system model, are dichromatic with enhanced sensitivity to green and UV. Their visual environment, however, is rarely considered. Here, we built a UV-green camera to record footage from mouse habitats. We found chromatic contrast to greatly diverge in the upper but not the lower visual field, an environmental difference that may underlie the species’ superior colour discrimination in the upper visual field. Moreover, training an autoencoder on upper but not lower visual field scenes was sufficient for the emergence of colour-opponent filters. Furthermore, the upper visual field was biased towards dark UV contrasts, paralleled by more light-offset-sensitive cells in the ventral retina. Finally, footage recorded at twilight suggests that UV promotes aerial predator detection. Our findings support that natural scene statistics shaped early visual processing in evolution.Lead contactFurther information and requests for resources and reagents should be directed to and will be fulfilled by the Lead Contact, Thomas Euler ([email protected])

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Typical visual-field locations facilitate access to awareness for everyday objects

10.1101/297523 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Kaiser ◽

Radoslaw M. Cichy

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Visual Space ◽

Natural Scenes ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Complex Environments ◽

Extensive Experience ◽

Object Individuation ◽

Continuous Flash Suppression ◽

Everyday Objects ◽

Upper Visual Field

AbstractIn real-world vision, humans are constantly confronted with complex environments that contain a multitude of objects. These environments are spatially structured, so that objects have different likelihoods of appearing in specific parts of the visual space. Our massive experience with such positional regularities prompts the hypothesis that the processing of individual objects varies in efficiency across the visual field: when objects are encountered in their typical locations (e.g., we are used to seeing lamps in the upper visual field and carpets in the lower visual field), they should be more efficiently perceived than when they are encountered in atypical locations (e.g., a lamp in the lower visual field and a carpet in the upper visual field). Here, we provide evidence for this hypothesis by showing that typical positioning facilitates an object’s access to awareness. In two continuous flash suppression experiments, objects more efficiently overcame inter-ocular suppression when they were presented in visual-field locations that matched their typical locations in the environment, as compared to non-typical locations. This finding suggests that through extensive experience the visual system has adapted to the statistics of the environment. This adaptation may be particularly useful for rapid object individuation in natural scenes.

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Stimulus-Locked and Response-Locked ERP Correlates of Spatial Inhibition of Return (IOR) in Old Age

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000119 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 105-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Elena Amenedo ◽

Francisco-Javier Gutiérrez-Domínguez ◽

Sara M. Mateos-Ruger ◽

Paula Pazo-Álvarez

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Old Age ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Inhibition Of Return ◽

Age Groups ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Response Preparation ◽

Age Related ◽

Upper Visual Field

Behavioral research has shown that Inhibition of Return (IOR) is preserved in old age although at longer time intervals between cue and target, which has been interpreted as reflecting a later disengagement from the cue. A recent event-related potential (ERP) study attributed this age-related pattern to an enhanced processing of the cue. Previous ERP research in young samples indicates that target and response processing are also affected by IOR, which makes interesting to study the ERP correlates of IOR from cue presentation to response execution. In this regard, in the present study stimulus-locked (cue-locked and target-locked) and response-locked ERPs were explored in healthy young and older participants. The behavioral results indicated preserved IOR in the older participants. The cue-locked ERPs could suggest that the older participants processed the cue as a warning signal to prepare for the upcoming target stimulus. Under IOR, target-locked ERPs of both age groups showed lower N1 amplitudes suggesting a suppression/inhibition of cued targets. During the P3 rising period, in young subjects a negative shift (Nd effect) to cued targets was observed in the lower visual field (LVF), and a positive shift (Pd effect) in the upper visual field. However, in the older group the Nd effect was absent suggesting a reduction of attentional resolution in the LVF. The older group showed enhanced motor activation to prepare correct responses, although IOR effects on response-locked lateralized readiness potential LRP indicated reduced response preparation to cued targets in both age groups. In general, results suggest that the older adults inhibit or reduce the visual processing of targets appearing at cued locations, and the preparation to respond to them, but with the added cost of allocating more attentional resources onto the cue and of maintaining a more effortful processing during the sequence of stimuli within the trial.

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Independence of color and luminance edges in natural scenes

Visual Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/s0952523808080796 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 35-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

THORSTEN HANSEN ◽

KARL R. GEGENFURTNER

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Artificial Vision ◽

Natural Scenes ◽

Natural Scene ◽

Natural Scene Statistics ◽

Form Vision ◽

Independent Information ◽

Edge Contrast ◽

Source Of Information ◽

Gain Access

AbstractForm vision is traditionally regarded as processing primarily achromatic information. Previous investigations into the statistics of color and luminance in natural scenes have claimed that luminance and chromatic edges are not independent of each other and that any chromatic edge most likely occurs together with a luminance edge of similar strength. Here we computed the joint statistics of luminance and chromatic edges in over 700 calibrated color images from natural scenes. We found that isoluminant edges exist in natural scenes and were not rarer than pure luminance edges. Most edges combined luminance and chromatic information but to varying degrees such that luminance and chromatic edges were statistically independent of each other. Independence increased along successive stages of visual processing from cones via postreceptoral color-opponent channels to edges. The results show that chromatic edge contrast is an independent source of information that can be linearly combined with other cues for the proper segmentation of objects in natural and artificial vision systems. Color vision may have evolved in response to the natural scene statistics to gain access to this independent information.

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Dyslexic children show altered temporal structure of the nonlinear VEP

10.1101/697201 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Sheila Crewther ◽

Jacqueline Rutkowski ◽

David Crewther

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Change Detection ◽

Second Order ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Perceptual Speed ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing ◽

Low Contrast ◽

First Order ◽

Upper Visual Field ◽

Order Kernel

AbstractThe neural basis of dyslexia remains unresolved, despite many theories relating dyslexia to dysfunction in visual magnocellular and auditory temporal processing, cerebellar dysfunction, attentional deficits, as well as excessive neural noise. Recent research identifies perceptual speed as a common factor, integrating several of these systems. Optimal perceptual speed invokes transient attention as a necessary component, and change detection in gap paradigm tasks is impaired in those with dyslexia. This research has also identified an overall better change detection for targets presented in the upper compared with lower visual fields. Despite the magnocellular visual pathway being implicated in the aetiology of dyslexia over 30 years ago, objective physiological measures have been lacking. Thus, we employed nonlinear visual evoked potential (VEP) techniques which generate second order kernel terms specific for magno and parvocellular processing as a means to assessing the physiological status of poor readers (PR, n=12) compared with good readers (GR, n=16) selected from children with a mean age of 10yr. The first and second order Wiener kernels using multifocal VEP were recorded from a 4° foveal stimulus patch as well as for upper and lower visual field peripheral arcs. Foveal responses showed little difference between GR and PR for low contrast stimulation, except for the second slice of the second order kernel where lower peak amplitudes were recorded for PR vs GR. At high contrast, there was a trend to smaller first order kernel amplitudes for short latency peaks of the PR vs GR. In addition, there were significant latency differences for the first negativity in the first two slices of the second order kernel. In terms of peripheral stimulation, lower visual field response amplitudes were larger compared with upper visual field responses, for both PR and GR. A trend to larger second/first order ratio for magnocellularly driven responses suggests the possibility of lesser neural efficiency in the periphery for the PR compared with the GR. Stronger lower field peripheral response may relate to better upper visual field change detection performance when target visibility is controlled through flicking masks. In conclusion, early cortical magnocellular processing at low contrast was normal in those with dyslexia, while cortical activity related to parvocellular afferents was reduced. In addition, the study demonstrated a physiological basis for upper versus lower visual field differences related to magnocellular function.

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Vertical Visual-Field Differences in Schematic Persistence for Colour Information

Perception ◽

10.1068/v970313 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽

pp. 172-172

Author(s):

B Heider ◽

R Groner

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Visual Fields ◽

Field Performance ◽

Partial Report ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Circular Array ◽

Verbal Information ◽

Upper Visual Field ◽

Original Target ◽

Verbal Content

The functional specialisation in the upper and lower visual fields is related to the distinction between far and near vision, and may parallel differences between the ventral and dorsal processing streams. Here, we studied possible differences in colour processing. According to postulates of Previc (1990 Behavioral and Brain Sciences13 519 – 575), we expected longer persistence and an advantage in colour classification for stimuli presented in the upper visual field. Performance was tested in a modified partial-report task to estimate duration of schematic persistence for colour and verbal information. The targets were letter strings—either red, yellow, blue, or green—presented in three combinations: (a) nonsense strings, (b) congruent colour-words, and (c) incongruent colour-words. Eight targets were simultaneously presented in a circular array for 60 ms. After a variable interstimulus interval (ISI, 0 – 900 ms), a coloured marker was briefly displayed pointing to one of the original target positions, and the participants had to report whether the colours of target and marker were identical or not. The responses were analysed separately for upper and lower visual-field presentations. The verbal content of the targets did not affect performance. There were no differences in performance between the two visual fields. However, analyses of both accuracy and reaction latencies showed significant interactions between visual field and ISI, ie performance decreased at a slower rate in the upper visual field. These results suggest longer schematic persistence for colour stimuli presented in the upper visual field.

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Typical visual-field locations enhance processing in object-selective channels of human occipital cortex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00229.2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 120 (2) ◽

pp. 848-853 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Daniel Kaiser ◽

Radoslaw M. Cichy

Keyword(s):

Visual Cortex ◽

Visual Field ◽

Functional Mri ◽

Object Perception ◽

Occipital Cortex ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Cortical Processing ◽

Upper Visual Field ◽

Early Visual Cortex

Natural environments consist of multiple objects, many of which repeatedly occupy similar locations within a scene. For example, hats are seen on people’s heads, while shoes are most often seen close to the ground. Such positional regularities bias the distribution of objects across the visual field: hats are more often encountered in the upper visual field, while shoes are more often encountered in the lower visual field. Here we tested the hypothesis that typical visual field locations of objects facilitate cortical processing. We recorded functional MRI while participants viewed images of objects that were associated with upper or lower visual field locations. Using multivariate classification, we show that object information can be more successfully decoded from response patterns in object-selective lateral occipital cortex (LO) when the objects are presented in their typical location (e.g., shoe in the lower visual field) than when they are presented in an atypical location (e.g., shoe in the upper visual field). In a functional connectivity analysis, we relate this benefit to increased coupling between LO and early visual cortex, suggesting that typical object positioning facilitates information propagation across the visual hierarchy. Together these results suggest that object representations in occipital visual cortex are tuned to the structure of natural environments. This tuning may support object perception in spatially structured environments. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In the real world, objects appear in predictable spatial locations. Hats, commonly appearing on people’s heads, often fall into the upper visual field. Shoes, mostly appearing on people’s feet, often fall into the lower visual field. Here we used functional MRI to demonstrate that such regularities facilitate cortical processing: Objects encountered in their typical locations are coded more efficiently, which may allow us to effortlessly recognize objects in natural environments.

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Natural Image Statistics for Mouse Vision

10.1101/2021.04.08.438953 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Luca Abballe ◽

Hiroki Asari

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Uv Light ◽

Green Light ◽

Mouse Retina ◽

Natural Image ◽

Natural Scenes ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Local Contrast ◽

Natural Image Statistics ◽

Image Statistics

The mouse has dichromatic colour vision based on two different types of opsins: short (S)-and middle (M)-wavelength-sensitive opsins with peak sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV; 360 nm) and green light (508 nm), respectively. In the mouse retina, the cone photoreceptors that predominantly express the S-opsin are more sensitive to contrasts, and denser towards the ventral retina, preferentially sampling the upper part of the visual field. In contrast, the expression of the M-opsin gradually increases towards the dorsal retina that encodes the lower visual field. Such distinct retinal organizations are assumed to arise from a selective pressure in evolution to efficiently encode the natural scenes. However, natural image statistics of UV light have never been examined beyond the spectral analysis. Here we developed a multi-spectral camera and examined the UV and green image statistics of the same natural scenes. We found that the local contrast and the spatial correlation were higher in UV than in green for images above the horizon, but lower in UV than in green for those below the horizon. This suggests that the mouse retina is not necessarily optimal for maximizing the bandwidth of information transmission. Factors besides the coding efficiency, such as visual behavioural requirements, will thus need to be considered to fully explain the characteristic organization of the mouse retina.

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Asymmetrical representation of the upper and lower visual fields in oculomotor maps

10.1101/086397 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Zhiguo Wang ◽

Benchi Wang ◽

Matthew Finkbeiner

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Visual Fields ◽

Saccade Target ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Visually Guided ◽

Fixation Stimulus ◽

Visual Distractor ◽

Upper Visual Field ◽

Striate Area

The striate area devoted to the lower visual field (LVF) is larger than that devoted to the upper visual field (UVF). A similar anatomical asymmetry also exists in the LGN. Here we take advantage of two experimental tasks that are known to modulate the direction and amplitude of saccades to demonstrate a visual field asymmetry in oculomotor maps. Participants made visually guided saccades. In Experiment 1, the saccade target was accompanied by a visual distractor. The distractor's presence modulated the direction of saccades, and this effect was much stronger for LVF targets. In Experiment 2, the temporal gap between the offset of the fixation stimulus and the onset of the saccade target was manipulated. This manipulation modulated the amplitude of saccades and this modulation was stronger for saccades towards UVF targets. Taken together, these results suggest that the representation of both meridians and eccentricities in the LVF is compressed in oculomotor maps.

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Typical retinotopic locations impact the time course of object coding

10.1101/177493 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel Kaiser ◽

Merle M. Moeskops ◽

Radoslaw M. Cichy

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Time Course ◽

Visual Space ◽

Neural Mechanism ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Lower Visual Field ◽

Object Processing ◽

Upper Visual Field ◽

Long Term Experience

AbstractIn everyday visual environments, objects are non-uniformly distributed across visual space. Many objects preferentially occupy particular retinotopic locations: for example, lamps more often fall into the upper visual field, whereas carpets more often fall into the lower visual field. The long-term experience with natural environments prompts the hypothesis that the visual system is tuned to such retinotopic object locations. A key prediction is that typically positioned objects should be coded more efficiently. To test this prediction, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) while participants viewed briefly presented objects appearing in their typical locations (e.g., an airplane in the upper visual field) or in atypical locations (e.g., an airplane in the lower visual field). Multivariate pattern analysis applied to the EEG data revealed that object classification depended on positional regularities: Objects were classified more accurately when positioned typically, rather than atypically, already at 140 ms, suggesting that relatively early stages of object processing are tuned to typical retinotopic locations. Our results confirm the prediction that long-term experience with objects occurring at specific locations leads to enhanced perceptual processing when these objects appear in their typical locations. This may indicate a neural mechanism for efficient natural scene processing, where a large number of typically positioned objects needs to be processed.

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Comparison of Human Occipital Cortical Activation to Lower and Upper Visual Field Stimuli

Perception ◽

10.1068/v970366 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽

pp. 319-319

Author(s):

K Portin ◽

S Vanni ◽

R Hari

Keyword(s):

Visual Field ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Cortical Activation ◽

Field Stimulation ◽

Evoked Responses ◽

Black Dot ◽

Lower Field ◽

Lower Quadrant ◽

Upper Visual Field ◽

Source Current

We compared cortical responses to lower and upper quadrant and full hemifield stimuli (90° and 180° sectors of circular checkerboards) measured from 15 healthy subjects with a Neuromag-122™ whole-scalp neuromagnetometer. The 0.2 s stimuli were presented once every second, while the subjects fixated a black dot in the centre of the screen. The first evoked responses, peaking at 70 ms in the contralateral hemisphere, were stronger for lower than for upper field stimulation (13/15 subjects, LVF; 11/15 RVF). The sources of the evoked responses, modelled as equivalent current dipoles, clustered around the calcarine fissure, with a trend for stronger sources after lower than after upper field stimulation (on average 12% LVF; 40% RVF; ns). Attention-related visual processing may be enhanced in the lower compared with the upper visual field (Rubin et al, 1996 Science271 651 – 653). Although our data showed a strong tendency to larger responses for lower than for upper visual field stimuli, this difference was not significant for source strengths, mainly because of different source depths for upper and lower field stimuli. However, the marked similarity of source current directions for full hemifield and lower quadrant stimuli (15° - 35° upwards from the horizontal axis, viewed from back, compared with directions 15° - 25° downwards for upper field stimuli) suggest that visual input from the lower field is preferred already at early stages of the human visual system.

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