scholarly journals Gaze stabilisation behaviour is anisotropic across visual field locations in zebrafish

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian A. Dehmelt ◽  
Rebecca Meier ◽  
Julian Hinz ◽  
Takeshi Yoshimatsu ◽  
Clara A. Simacek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Stimulus Size ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Retinal Photoreceptor

AbstractMany animals have large visual fields, and sensory circuits may sample those regions of visual space most relevant to behaviours such as gaze stabilisation and hunting. Despite this, relatively small displays are often used in vision neuroscience. To sample stimulus locations across most of the visual field, we built a spherical stimulus arena with 14,848 independently controllable LEDs, measured the optokinetic response gain of immobilised zebrafish larvae, and related behaviour to previously published retinal photoreceptor densities. We measured tuning to steradian stimulus size and spatial frequency, and show it to be independent of visual field position. However, zebrafish react most strongly and consistently to lateral, nearly equatorial stimuli, consistent with previously reported higher spatial densities in the central retina of red, green and blue photoreceptors. Upside-down experiments suggest further extra-retinal processing. Our results demonstrate that motion vision circuits in zebrafish are anisotropic, and preferentially monitor areas with putative behavioural relevance.Author summaryThe visual system of larval zebrafish mirrors many features present in the visual system of other vertebrates, including its ability to mediate optomotor and optokinetic behaviour. Although the presence of such behaviours and some of the underlying neural correlates have been firmly established, previous experiments did not consider the large visual field of zebrafish, which covers more than 160° for each eye. Given that different parts of the visual field likely carry unequal amount of behaviourally relevant information for the animal, this raises the question whether optic flow is integrated across the entire visual field or just parts of it, and how this shapes behaviour such as the optokinetic response. We constructed a spherical LED arena to present visual stimuli almost anywhere across their visual field, while tracking horizontal eye movements. By displaying moving gratings on this LED arena, we demonstrate that the optokinetic response, one of the most prominent visually induced behaviours of zebrafish, indeed strongly depends on stimulus location and stimulus size, as well as on other parameters such as the spatial and temporal frequency of the gratings. This location dependence is consistent with areas of high retinal photoreceptor densities, though evidence suggests further extraretinal processing.

scholarly journals Spherical arena reveals optokinetic response tuning to stimulus location, size, and frequency across entire visual field of larval zebrafish

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Alexander Dehmelt ◽  
Rebecca Meier ◽  
Julian Hinz ◽  
Takeshi Yoshimatsu ◽  
Clara A Simacek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Sample Stimulus ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Larval Zebrafish ◽  
Retinal Processing ◽  
Entire Visual Field

Many animals have large visual fields, and sensory circuits may sample those regions of visual space most relevant to behaviours such as gaze stabilisation and hunting. Despite this, relatively small displays are often used in vision neuroscience. To sample stimulus locations across most of the visual field, we built a spherical stimulus arena with 14,848 independently controllable LEDs. We measured the optokinetic response gain of immobilised zebrafish larvae to stimuli of different steradian size and visual field locations. We find that the two eyes are less yoked than previously thought and that spatial frequency tuning is similar across visual field positions. However, zebrafish react most strongly to lateral, nearly equatorial stimuli, consistent with previously reported spatial densities of red, green and blue photoreceptors. Upside-down experiments suggest further extra-retinal processing. Our results demonstrate that motion vision circuits in zebrafish are anisotropic, and preferentially monitor areas with putative behavioural relevance.

scholarly journals Visual numerosity estimation is based on anisotropic representations of visual space

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Li ◽  
Bert Reynvoet ◽  
Bilge Sayim
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Convex Hull ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Spatial Vision ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Numerosity Estimation ◽  
Numerosity Perception ◽  
Average Eccentricity ◽  
Shed Light

Humans can estimate the number of visually displayed items without counting. This capacity of numerosity perception has often been attributed to a dedicated system to estimate numerosity, or alternatively to the exploitation of various stimulus features, such as density, convex hull, the size of items and occupancy area. The distribution of the presented items is usually not varied with eccentricity in the visual field. However, our visual fields are highly asymmetric, and to date, it is unclear how inhomogeneities of the visual field impact numerosity perception. Besides eccentricity, a pronounced asymmetry is the radial-tangential anisotropy. For example, in crowding, radially placed flankers interfere more strongly with target perception than tangentially placed flankers. Similarly, in redundancy masking, the number of perceived items in repeating patterns is reduced when the items are arranged radially but not when they are arranged tangentially. Here, we investigated whether numerosity perception is subject to the radial-tangential anisotropy of spatial vision to shed light on the underlying topology of numerosity perception. Observers were presented with varying numbers of discs and asked to report the perceived number. There were two conditions. Discs were predominantly arranged radially in the “radial” condition and tangentially in the “tangential” condition. Additionally, the spacing between discs was scaled with eccentricity. Physical properties, such as average eccentricity, average spacing, convex hull, and density were kept as similar as possible in the two conditions. Radial arrangements were expected to yield underestimation compared to tangential arrangements. Consistent with the hypothesis, numerosity estimates in the radial condition were lower compared to the tangential condition. Magnitudes of radial alignment (as well as predicted crowding strength) correlated with the observed numerosity estimates. Our results demonstrate a robust radial-tangential anisotropy, suggesting that the topology of spatial vision determines numerosity estimation. We suggest that asymmetries of spatial vision should be taken into account when investigating numerosity estimation.

scholarly journals Sign language experience redistributes attentional resources to the inferior visual field

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Stoll ◽  
Matthew William Geoffrey Dye
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
The Body ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Signed Languages ◽  
Covert Visual Attention ◽  
Deaf Signers

While a substantial body of work has suggested that deafness brings about an increased allocation of visual attention to the periphery there has been much less work on how using a signed language may also influence this attentional allocation. Signed languages are visual-gestural and produced using the body and perceived via the human visual system. Signers fixate upon the face of interlocutors and do not directly look at the hands moving in the inferior visual field. It is therefore reasonable to predict that signed languages require a redistribution of covert visual attention to the inferior visual field. Here we report a prospective and statistically powered assessment of the spatial distribution of attention to inferior and superior visual fields in signers – both deaf and hearing – in a visual search task. Using a Bayesian Hierarchical Drift Diffusion Model, we estimated decision making parameters for the superior and inferior visual field in deaf signers, hearing signers and hearing non-signers. Results indicated a greater attentional redistribution toward the inferior visual field in adult signers (both deaf and hearing) than in hearing sign-naïve adults. The effect was smaller for hearing signers than for deaf signers, suggestive of either a role for extent of exposure or greater plasticity of the visual system in the deaf. The data provide support for a process by which the demands of linguistic processing can influence the human attentional system.

Neuro-ophthalmology: Visual Fields

2021 ◽  
pp. 813-820
Author(s):  
Jacqueline A. Leavitt
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Field Evaluation ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Outer Edge ◽  
Visual Field Testing ◽  
Clinical Process ◽  
Field Of Vision ◽  
Afferent Visual System

Visual field testing is an important part of the assessment of the afferent visual system. This chapter reviews the clinical process of visual field evaluation and the localization of lesions that affect the visual system. The visual field can be thought of as an island with an outer edge beyond which one cannot see and with an elevated center. The normal extent of the peripheral field of vision from the center is 90° to 100° temporally, 75° inferiorly, and 60° nasally and superiorly. Visual fields are subjective and should be considered only 1 part of the examination of the visual pathways.

Models of Response Time to Peripheral Stimuli

1974 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 533-533
Author(s):  
D.S. Kochhar ◽  
T.M. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Stimulus Location ◽  
Stimulus Size ◽  
Tracking Task ◽  
Right Visual Field ◽  
Simulated Driving ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

The variable contribution of peripherally presented stimuli in a A sensory motor task has been explored in terms of stimulus and environmental variables. A simulated driving task was chosen as being a representative compensatory tracking task. Empirical models have been developed using response surface methodology, statistical design and data collected on a simulator with a 240° wrap-around screen and projection systems very much like cinerama. In this research, seven factors were isolated for a study of their effects on detection latency to peripherally presented stimuli when the subject was ‘driving’. These factors were stimulus size (circular stimuli between 18′ and 60′), stimulus color (red, white and green), stimulus-background contrast (background luminance 1ft.L and stimulus luminance of 30, 60 and 90 ft.L), stimulus location along the horizontal (between ± 90°) and vertical meridians (between ± 26°), intensity of continuous white noise (between 52 and 100 dbA), and complexity of the continuous central tracking task measured in terms of the simulated driving speed. Three levels of each variable were selected in a 7 factor Box-Behnken design. Twenty undergraduates between the ages 19 and 26 participated in the experiment. It was found that, in this multivariable environment when all seven factors were simultaneously varied, the effects of noise, stimulus location in the visual field and stimulus size were the more important determinants of response latency. In addition, marked differences for the left and right visual fields were observed for the right-handed subject population. Four models have been developed: two for the left visual field, with and without the continuous central task (CCT), and two for the right visual field for the same conditions. The response was found to be of the form 1/Yr = f (xi); i= 1,2,… 7 for both the left and right visual fields in the presence of the CCT. In the absence of the CCT the model was of the form Yr = f (xr) for the left and 1/2 = f (xi) for the right visual field where Yr = response time in millisec. and Yr xi = variables in equations. Response curves have been presented to illustrate the variation of response time with each of the seven variables for regions where response time may be expected to be a minimum. The implications of these curves and the models on which they are based have been examined from the design point of view.

scholarly journals A novel scale for describing visual outcomes in patients following resection of lesions affecting the optic apparatus: the Unified Visual Function Scale

2018 ◽  
Vol 129 (6) ◽  
pp. 1438-1445
Author(s):  
Serge Makarenko ◽  
Vincent Ye ◽  
Peter A. Gooderham ◽  
Ryojo Akagami
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual Function ◽  
Tumor Resection ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Visual Outcomes ◽  
User Friendly

OBJECTIVEHistorically, descriptions of visual acuity and visual field change following intracranial procedures have been very rudimentary. Clinicians and researchers have often used basic descriptions, such as “improved,” “worsened,” and “unchanged,” to describe outcomes following resections of tumors affecting the optic apparatus. These descriptors are vague, difficult to quantify, and challenging to apply in a clinical perspective. Several groups have attempted to combine visual acuity and visual fields into a single assessment score, but these are not user-friendly. The authors present a novel way to describe a patient’s visual function as a combination of visual acuity and visual field assessment that is simple to use and can be used by surgeons and researchers to gauge visual outcomes following tumor resection.METHODSVisual acuity and visual fields were combined into 3 categories designed around the definitions of legal blindness and fitness to drive in Canada. The authors then applied the scale (the Unified Visual Function Scale, or UVFS) to their previously published case series of perisellar meningiomas to document and test overall visual outcomes for patients undergoing tumor resection. The results were compared with previously documented visual loss scales in the literature.RESULTSUsing the UVFS the authors were able to capture the overall visual change; the scale was sensitive enough to define the overall visual improvement or worsening quantitatively, using categories that are clinically relevant and understandable.CONCLUSIONSThe UVFS is a robust way to assess a patient’s vision, combining visual fields and acuity. The implementation of pre- and postoperative assessment is sensitive enough to assess overall change while also providing clinically relevant information for surgeons, and allows for comparisons between treatment groups.

scholarly journals Retinotopic Organization of Scene Areas in Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Arcaro ◽  
Margaret S. Livingstone
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Polar Angle ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Inferior Temporal Cortex ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Retinotopic Maps ◽  
Mirror Reversal ◽  
Visual Field Maps

ABSTRACTPrimates have specialized domains in inferior temporal (IT) cortex that are responsive to particular image categories. Though IT traditionally has been regarded as lacking retinotopy, several recent studies in monkeys have shown that retinotopic maps extend to face patches along the lower bank of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) in IT cortex. Here, we confirm the presence of visual field maps within and around the lower bank of the STS and extend these prior findings to scene-selective cortex in the ventral-most regions of IT. Within the occipito-temporal sulcus (OTS), we identified two retinotopic areas, OTS1 and OTS2. The polar angle representation of OTS2 was a mirror reversal of the OTS1 representation. These regions contained representations of the contralateral periphery and were selectively active for scene vs. face, body, or object images. The extent of this retinotopy parallels that in humans and shows that the organization of the scene network is preserved across primate species. In addition retinotopic maps were identified in dorsal extrastriate, posterior parietal, and frontal cortex as well as the thalamus, including both the LGN and pulvinar. Taken together, it appears that most, if not all, of the macaque visual system contains organized representations of visual space.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTPrimates have specialized domains in inferior temporal (IT) cortex that are responsive to particular image categories. Though retinotopic maps are considered a fundamental organizing principle of posterior visual cortex, IT traditionally has been regarded as lacking retinotopy. Recent imaging studies have demonstrated the presence of several visual field maps within lateral IT. Using neuroimaging, we found multiple representations of visual space within ventral IT cortex of macaques that included scene-selective IT cortex. The scene domains were biased towards the peripheral visual field. These data demonstrate the prevalence of visual field maps throughout the primate visual system, including late stages in the ventral visual hierarchy, and support the idea that domains representing different categories are biased towards different parts of the visual field.

Rating Visual System Impairment using the Sixth Edition: Technical Aspects

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
Bernard R. Blais
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Visual Field Loss ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Reasonable Estimate ◽  
Sixth Edition ◽  
Functional Vision ◽  
Vision Defects

Abstract Use of The Visual System section of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), Sixth Edition, requires knowledge and skills in ophthalmology and assessing impairment. Visual acuity usually is measured using symbols (letters, numbers, pictures, or other symbols) presented in a letter chart format. The Visual Acuity Scale (VAS) is a linear scale with fixed increments and provides a reasonable estimate of acuity-related visual abilities; the associated impairment rating is a reasonable estimate of acuity-related performance loss. This article shows how to perform visual acuity calculations and how to assess impairment of visual fields, including visual field test procedures and calculations. Additional factors can lead to a loss of functional vision and can limit the individual's ability to perform activities of daily living and include contrast sensitivity, glare sensitivity, color vision defects, and binocularity, stereopsis, suppression, and diplopia. If functional vision is affected and is not accounted for by visual acuity or visual field loss, the impairment rating of the visual system can be adjusted but should be limited to an increase of the impairment rating of the visual system by, at most, 15 points (ie, less severe than the total loss of one eye). The ability to rate visual impairment requires significant knowledge and education, and therefore a physician trained in ophthalmology should perform the visual examination and visual system impairment rating.

scholarly journals Unifying Visual Space Across the Left and Right Hemifields

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 356-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhimin Chen ◽  
Anna Kosovicheva ◽  
Benjamin Wolfe ◽  
Patrick Cavanagh ◽  
Andrei Gorea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Coherent Motion ◽  
Vertical Meridian ◽  
Negative Aftereffect ◽  
Visual Inputs ◽  
Left And Right

Visual space is perceived as continuous and stable even though visual inputs from the left and right visual fields are initially processed separately within the two cortical hemispheres. In the research reported here, we examined whether the visual system utilizes a dynamic recalibration mechanism to integrate these representations and to maintain alignment across the visual fields. Subjects adapted to randomly oriented moving lines that straddled the vertical meridian; these lines were vertically offset between the left and right hemifields. Subsequent vernier alignment judgments revealed a negative aftereffect: An offset in the same direction as the adaptation was required to correct the perceived misalignment. This aftereffect was specific to adaptation to vertical, but not horizontal, misalignments and also occurred following adaptation to movie clips and patterns without coherent motion. Our results demonstrate that the visual system unifies the left and right halves of visual space by continuously recalibrating the alignment of elements across the visual fields.

scholarly journals Trilobite vision: a comparison of schizochroal and holochroal eyes with the compound eyes of modern arthropods

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 103-103
Author(s):  
David. Fordyce ◽  
Thomas W. Cronin
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
National Science Foundation ◽  
Compound Eye ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Corneal Lens ◽  
Bright Sunlight ◽  
Parameter Values

The compound eyes of trilobites provide the best examples of fossilized sensory organs for which the function in life can be worked out today, because the optical array of their corneal lenses preserves the geometry with which the eye originally sampled the visual world. An analysis of trilobite vision is strengthened by the use of new mathematical approaches to compound eye design. In particular, the product of the facet diameter (D) and the interommatidial angle (Δϕ) gives the value of the eye parameter, DΔϕ, which is a reliable indicator of the photic conditions in which the eye was used. In modern arthropods, DΔϕ values range from 0.3 for animals active in bright sunlight to 20 or more for nocturnal or deep-sea animals.Three types of compound eyes existed in trilobites: schizochroal, holochroal, and abathochroal. We examined the schizochroal and holochroal types. Schizochroal eyes were studied in the phacopid species Phacops rana crassituberculata and Phacops rana milleri. We measured the diameter of every corneal lens, and estimated its optical axis by taking the normal to the plane of the lens's diameter. In both species, each eye covered almost exactly 180° of visual space in azimuth with no binocular overlap, from directly anterior to directly posterior. Vertically, the visual field extended from the horizon to about 40° in elevation. Facet diameters and interommatidial angles were large, giving eye parameter values ranging from 10 to > 150. These are much greater than in any living arthropod, implying that modern compound eye theory does not apply to schizochroal eyes. We believe that each ommatidium of the schizochroal eye served as a miniature lens eye. If so, phacopid vision must have been unique, with multiply overlapping visual fields. Such a design would have required considerable central processing, but could have provided exceptional opportunities for spatial, spectral, and polarizational analysis.We examined holochroal compound eyes in Asaphus cornutus and Isotelus “gigas”. Here, visual field coverage was greater than in the schizochroal eye type, with a small amount of frontal binocular overlap. Holochroal eyes contain far more ommatidia than do schizochroal types, reducing both facet diameter (D) and interommatidial angle (Δϕ). Thus, DΔϕ values in these species fall into the same range as in modern compound eyes. This implies that function of the holochroal eye was similar to that of modern crustaceans and insects.This material is based on research supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. BNS-8518769 and BNS-8917183.

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