scholarly journals Visual mapping on the brain - caveats for multifocal fMRI

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Crewther ◽  
Shaun A. S. Seixas ◽  
Sheila G. Crewther

AbstractWhile multifocal electroretinography has become a standard ophthalmological technique, its use in cortical neuroimaging has been lesser. Vanni et al. (2005) presented the first exploration of the multifocal visual mapping methodology with fMRI. This commentary confirms the utility of this method, but also presents empirical results which suggest caveats for the use of the technique. In the current study rapid multifocal fMRI was established using m-sequence pseudo-random binary stimuli applied to visual field mapping in six young adults with normal vision. Nine contiguous regions of visual field – two rings of 4 patches with a central patch, areas scaled for cortical magnification, were pseudo-randomly stimulated, with patterned or grey images. The decorrelation of stimulus patches allowed all 256 volumes to be used for the analysis of each of the nine stimulus areas. Strong localized activation was observed for each of the four peripheral regions with the location of the activation conforming to the expected visual field retinotopy. The inner regions, including the foveal patch, did not significantly activate. We propose, on the basis of a simple correlational model of simulated eye movements, that the loss of signal is due to gaze instability. Thus, while the rapid multifocal method can be successfully applied to fMRI, the results appear quite sensitive to eye movements, the effects of which may have been overlooked by smoothing evoked responses to achieve a retinotopic map.

Psichologija ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 78-91
Author(s):  
A. Dzekevičiūtė ◽  
A. Daugirdienė ◽  
A. Švegžda ◽  
R. Stanikūnas ◽  
H. Vaitkevičius

Tyrimo tikslas yra patikrinti, kaip keičiasi objekto dydžio suvokimas, kintant jo projekcijos padėčiai akies tinklainėje, ir kaip objekto dydžio suvokimas priklauso nuo akies tinklainės receptorių (kūgelių ir lazdelių) tankio. Tiriamieji, žiūrėdami viena akimi ir fiksuodami žvilgsnį, dalijo skirtingų ilgių atkarpas – nustatydavo suvokiamą vidurį. Atkarpos dalių santykio nuo atkarpos ilgio funkcija turėjo lūžio tašką (66,7 proc. tiriamiesiems, kai atkarpos ilgis 7 laipsniai, 23,33 proc. – 13 laipsnių, kiti neturėjo). Rezultatai aiškinami skirtingu kūgelių ir lazdelių tankiu akies tinklainėje ir skirtinga kūgelių ir lazdelių įtaka.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: dydžio suvokimas, žievinis didinimo veiksnys, fotoreceptorių tankis.Perceived Size of a Line Depending on Its Projection Place on the RetinaDzekevičiūtė A., Daugirdienė A., Švegžda A., Stanikūnas R., Vaitkevičius H. SummaryIt is known that objects located in the centre of the visual field are perceived as larger than the objects located in the periphery (Пиаже, 1978). The image of an object differs from its perception object. The perceived size of an object depends on the size of its image in the visual cortex. This stems from the so-called cortical magnification factor. It is assumed that the same quantity of receptors sends information to the same area of the cortex. But photoreceptors are different – rods and the cones. It is not clear whether the different type of receptors make a different influence on the above-mentioned distortion of mapping. Also, the image of the object on the retina is perceived differently, depending on its location on the retina. Our goal was to explore how this subjective expansion changes while moving away from the centre of the retina, because there are no data on this, phenomenon.Method. Thirty normal or corrected to normal vision adults participated in the study. Five different length lines (5, 7, 10, 13, 15 degrees) were represented on the computer’s monitor one line at a time. Participants had monoculary bisected lines into two subjectively equal parts fixating sight on a cross located at the given end of the line.Results. The ratio ρ (length of the line near the cross / length of the other part) was calculated. This ratio as a function of the length of the whole line was not monotonic: when the line was short, ρ decreased, but then it began to increase. Three groups of results were formed considering the ratio of the line length (where the function had the extremum point). The largest group (66.67%) had the extremum point when the line length was 7 deg. The second group (23.33%) had the extremum point when the line length was 13 deg. The last group (10%) had not clear extremum point and was excluded from the calculation. Changes of the ρ value cannot be explained by the perceptual instability of the length of the line (Brown, 1953). There could be a correlation between the value of ρ and the density of all receptors in the retina where the line was projected.Conclusions. Humans make a bias while monocular by bisecting a line: the part near the point of fixation is perceived as bigger than the other part. The function of the line size ratio changes not monotonically – it has an extremum point. Most often, the extremum point is observed when the line size is 7 deg. This point is near the point where the density of rods exceeds that of cones. Other subjects show the extremum point when line size is 13 deg., but the reasons for such a point shift remain unclear. Some subjects have no extremum point.Key words: size perception, cortical magnification factor, density of photoreceptors.


2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 3502-3511 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Kip Rodgers ◽  
Douglas P. Munoz ◽  
Stephen H. Scott ◽  
Martin Paré

The intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (SC) contain neurons that clearly play a major role in regulating the production of saccadic eye movements: a burst of activity from saccade neurons (SNs) is thought to provide a drive signal to set the eyes in motion, whereas the tonic activity of fixation neurons (FNs) is thought to suppress saccades during fixation. The exact contribution of these neurons to saccade control is, however, unclear because the nature of the signals sent by the SC to the brain stem saccade generation circuit has not been studied in detail. Here we tested the hypothesis that the SC output signal is sufficient to control saccades by examining whether antidromically identified tectoreticular neurons (TRNs: 33 SNs and 13 FNs) determine the end of saccades. First, TRNs had discharge properties similar to those of nonidentified SC neurons and a proportion of output SNs had visually evoked responses, which signify that the saccade generator must receive and process visual information. Second, only a minority of TRNs possessed the temporal patterns of activity sufficient to terminate saccades: Output SNs did not cease discharging at the time of saccade end, possibly continuing to drive the brain stem during postsaccadic fixations, and output FNs did not resume their activity before saccade end. These results argue against a role for SC in regulating the timing of saccade termination by a temporal code and suggest that other saccade centers act to thwart the extraneous SC drive signal, unless it controls saccade termination by a spatial code.


1979 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1656-1668 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Sherk

1. The aim of these experiments was to analyze the organization of the reciprocal connections between the cat's superior colliculus and parabigeminal nucleus. Both physiological and anatomical techniques were employed. 2. A population of cells in the superficial gray and upper optic layers of the colliculus was labeled retrogradely by horseradish peroxidase injections into the parabigeminal nucleus. No other sources of input to the nucleus were found in the brain stem or diencephalon. 3. A map of the visual field within the parabigeminal nucleus was reconstructed by plotting visual receptive fields at 350 parabigeminal sites with microelectrodes. The map resembled that found in the colliculus, although it was considerably less orderly. The entire contralateral visual field was represented and, in addition, roughly the central 40 degrees of the ipsilateral hemifield was included; futhermore, the expansion of the central visual field was similar to that of the tectal map. 4. The return parabigeminal projections to the caudal parts of the two colliculi, representing the contralateral hemifields, were in register with the tectal visual-field maps. In contrast, the parabigeminal pathways to the anterior segments of the two colliculi, representing part of the ipsilateral visual fields, were not clearly topographic. The projection to this part of the contralateral colliculus showed little order, while that to the ipsilateral colliculus was extremely sparse. 5. A single site in the colliculus can be the target of axons from nonhomologous locations in the two parabigeminal nuclei; so that both parabigeminal inputs are in register with the tectal map.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1447-1460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Brefczynski-Lewis ◽  
Ritobrato Datta ◽  
James W. Lewis ◽  
Edgar A. DeYoe

Previously, we and others have shown that attention can enhance visual processing in a spatially specific manner that is retinotopically mapped in the occipital cortex. However, it is difficult to appreciate the functional significance of the spatial pattern of cortical activation just by examining the brain maps. In this study, we visualize the neural representation of the “spotlight” of attention using a back-projection of attention-related brain activation onto a diagram of the visual field. In the two main experiments, we examine the topography of attentional activation in the occipital and parietal cortices. In retinotopic areas, attentional enhancement is strongest at the locations of the attended target, but also spreads to nearby locations and even weakly to restricted locations in the opposite visual field. The dispersion of attentional effects around an attended site increases with the eccentricity of the target in a manner that roughly corresponds to a constant area of spread within the cortex. When averaged across multiple observers, these patterns appear consistent with a gradient model of spatial attention. However, individual observers exhibit complex variations that are unique but reproducible. Overall, these results suggest that the topography of visual attention for each individual is composed of a common theme plus a personal variation that may reflect their own unique “attentional style.”


Daedalus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 144 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Wurtz

Active vision refers to the exploration of the visual world with rapid eye movements, or saccades, guided by shifts of visual attention. Saccades perform the critical function of directing the high-resolution fovea of our eyes to any point in the visual field two to three times per second. However, the disadvantage of saccades is that each one disrupts vision, causing significant visual disturbance for which the brain must compensate. Exploring the interaction of vision and eye movements provides the opportunity to study the organization of one of the most complex, yet best-understood, brain systems. Outlining this exploration also illustrates some of the ways in which neuroscientists study neuronal systems in the brain and how they relate this brain activity to behavior. It shows the advantages and limitations of current approaches in systems neuroscience, as well as a glimpse of its potential future.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Maria Felisberti

Visual field asymmetries (VFA) in the encoding of groups rather than individual faces has been rarely investigated. Here, eye movements (dwell time (DT) and fixations (Fix)) were recorded during the encoding of three groups of four faces tagged with cheating, cooperative, or neutral behaviours. Faces in each of the three groups were placed in the upper left (UL), upper right (UR), lower left (LL), or lower right (LR) quadrants. Face recognition was equally high in the three groups. In contrast, the proportion of DT and Fix were higher for faces in the left than the right hemifield and in the upper rather than the lower hemifield. The overall time spent looking at the UL was higher than in the other quadrants. The findings are relevant to the understanding of VFA in face processing, especially groups of faces, and might be linked to environmental cues and/or reading habits.


1980 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 631-636
Author(s):  
Evans Mandes

Post-exposural eye movements were studied in 32 adults and 24 7-yr.-old children. Stimuli were binary figures exposed tachistoscopically in both visual fields simultaneously. The data showed significant correlations between direction of eye movement and locus of recognition for both children and adults. No significant differences were found in frequencies of eye movements of children and adults. The data are interpreted in terms of the facilitative effects of post-exposural eye movements upon perception for both groups.


Author(s):  
Christian Wolf ◽  
Markus Lappe

AbstractHumans and other primates are equipped with a foveated visual system. As a consequence, we reorient our fovea to objects and targets in the visual field that are conspicuous or that we consider relevant or worth looking at. These reorientations are achieved by means of saccadic eye movements. Where we saccade to depends on various low-level factors such as a targets’ luminance but also crucially on high-level factors like the expected reward or a targets’ relevance for perception and subsequent behavior. Here, we review recent findings how the control of saccadic eye movements is influenced by higher-level cognitive processes. We first describe the pathways by which cognitive contributions can influence the neural oculomotor circuit. Second, we summarize what saccade parameters reveal about cognitive mechanisms, particularly saccade latencies, saccade kinematics and changes in saccade gain. Finally, we review findings on what renders a saccade target valuable, as reflected in oculomotor behavior. We emphasize that foveal vision of the target after the saccade can constitute an internal reward for the visual system and that this is reflected in oculomotor dynamics that serve to quickly and accurately provide detailed foveal vision of relevant targets in the visual field.


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