scholarly journals The neural mechanism of binocular depth discrimination

1967 ◽  
Vol 193 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. B. Barlow ◽  
C. Blakemore ◽  
J. D. Pettigrew
Keyword(s):  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Binocular Depth

End-stopped cells and binocular depth discrimination in the striate cortex of cats

1986 ◽  
Vol 229 (1256) ◽  
pp. 257-276 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Stimulus Orientation ◽  
Viewing Distance ◽  
Horizontal Disparity ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Response Profiles ◽  
Binocular Depth

Proposals concerning neural mechanisms for binocular depth discrimination have been criticized on the grounds that only striate cells with a preferred stimulus orientation not too far from the vertical can make significant horizontal disparity discriminations. We investigated this claim by preparing a two-dimensional array of position-disparity response profiles to moving light and dark bars from each of 18 cells in the simple family. From these arrays, it was possible to reconstruct disparity response profiles along any axis across the receptive field, irrespective of the cell’s optimal stimulus orientation. This analysis showed that cells with a predominantly excitatory binocular response (N = 10) can make precise horizontal disparity discriminations, independent of their optimal stimulus orientation, provided that they are sufficiently end stopped. End-free cells, on the other hand, are effective for horizontal disparity discriminations only if their preferred orientation are near the vertical. Nearly all striate cells we examined were end-stopped to some degree and nearly half had an end inhibition sufficient to reduce the monocular response from the dominant eye to half its maximal amplitude. Cells having a predominantly inhibitory disparity response profile of the symmetric type (N = 8) have an inhibitory profile along every axis across the receptive field. An outline is given of a neural mechanism for the determination of absolute viewing distance based on the sensitivities of striate cells to vertical retinal-image disparities.

scholarly journals A second neural mechanism of binocular depth discrimination

1972 ◽  
Vol 226 (3) ◽  
pp. 725-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Blakemore ◽  
Adriana Fiorentini ◽  
Lamberto Maffei
Keyword(s):  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Binocular Depth

scholarly journals Binocular depth discrimination and estimation beyond interaction space

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Allison ◽  
B. J. Gillam ◽  
E. Vecellio
Keyword(s):  
Interaction Space ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Binocular Depth

Effects of Viewing Distance, Low Ambient Temperature and Wind Exposure on Binocular Depth Discrimination

1969 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 647-656
Author(s):  
John L. Kobrick
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Exposure Duration ◽  
Relative Sensitivity ◽  
Viewing Distance ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Wind Exposure ◽  
Natural Terrain ◽  
Main Effects ◽  
Binocular Depth

A study was conducted of the effects of exposure to combinations of low ambient temperatures (70°, 20°, 0°, −20°, −40°F) and wind (3, 10, 20, 30 mph) upon binocular depth discrimination at three viewing distances (20, 40, 60 ft.). 60 groups of 8 Ss each were randomly assigned to one of 60 possible treatment combinations in a factorial design, and binocularly performed depth equality settings using the Howard-Dolman task. The results indicated significant main effects for temperature, wind, and viewing distance, as well as a significant T × W interaction, which occurred for a very brief exposure duration of 1 min. The results are interpreted in light of previous findings for binocular viewing over natural terrain, supporting the notion of two types of stereoscopic threshold, i.e., true stereopsis (ηt) and relative sensitivity in commonplace viewing (ηR).

scholarly journals Associations Between Binocular Depth Perception and Performance Gains in Laparoscopic Skill Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adamantini Hatzipanayioti ◽  
Sebastian Bodenstedt ◽  
Felix von Bechtolsheim ◽  
Isabel Funke ◽  
Florian Oehme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Depth Perception ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Laparoscopic Skill ◽  
Laparoscopic Skills ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Visual Motor ◽  
Performance Gains ◽  
Binocular Depth

The ability to perceive differences in depth is important in many daily life situations. It is also of relevance in laparoscopic surgical procedures that require the extrapolation of three-dimensional visual information from two-dimensional planar images. Besides visual-motor coordination, laparoscopic skills and binocular depth perception are demanding visual tasks for which learning is important. This study explored potential relations between binocular depth perception and individual variations in performance gains during laparoscopic skill acquisition in medical students naïve of such procedures. Individual differences in perceptual learning of binocular depth discrimination when performing a random dot stereogram (RDS) task were measured as variations in the slope changes of the logistic disparity psychometric curves from the first to the last blocks of the experiment. The results showed that not only did the individuals differ in their depth discrimination; the extent with which this performance changed across blocks also differed substantially between individuals. Of note, individual differences in perceptual learning of depth discrimination are associated with performance gains from laparoscopic skill training, both with respect to movement speed and an efficiency score that considered both speed and precision. These results indicate that learning-related benefits for enhancing demanding visual processes are, in part, shared between these two tasks. Future studies that include a broader selection of task-varying monocular and binocular cues as well as visual-motor coordination are needed to further investigate potential mechanistic relations between depth perceptual learning and laparoscopic skill acquisition. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms would be important for applied research that aims at designing behavioral interventions for enhancing technology-assisted laparoscopic skills.

scholarly journals Binocular depth discrimination depends on orientation

1976 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph Blake ◽  
John M. Camisa ◽  
Dianne N. Antoinetti
Keyword(s):  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Binocular Depth

Stereoscopic mechanisms: binocular responses of the striate cells of cats to moving light and dark bars

1986 ◽  
Vol 229 (1256) ◽  
pp. 227-256 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Stimulus Contrast ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Response Profile ◽  
Binocular Facilitation ◽  
Receptive Field Disparity ◽  
Response Profiles ◽  
Preferred Stimulus ◽  
Binocular Depth

New knowledge concerning the internal structure and response properties of the receptive fields of striate cells calls for a fresh appraisal of their binocular interactions in the interest of a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying binocular depth discrimination. Binocular position-disparity response profiles were recorded from 71 simple and B-cells in response to moving light and dark bars. Predominantly excitatory (PE) cells ( N = 48) had disparity response profiles that were spatially closely similar to their respective monocular responses. In addition, the centrally located excitatory subregions were flanked on one or both sides by non-specific inhibitory regions, PE cells with a preferred stimulus orientation within 30° of the vertical ( N = 17) showed binocular facilitations with maximal values that were always more than twice (mean 3.3) the sum of the two monocular responses to the same stimuli and generally greater than the facilitations shown by cells with orientations more than 30° from the vertical ( N = 29; mean 2.2 times the sum of the respective monocular responses). The strength of the binocular facilitation depended on the stimulus contrast, the facilitation decreasing with increasing contrast. The receptive-field disparity distribution of the 31 PE cells capable of making significant horizontal disparity discriminations has standard deviations of 0.37° and 0.40°, respectively. Predominantly inhibitory cells (PI) ( N = 23) showed two basic types of disparity response profile: symmetric ( N = 17) and asymmetric ( N = 6). Uncertainty regarding the precise location of the binocular fixation point in the anaesthetized and paralysed preparation made it difficult to categorize PI cells adequately.

scholarly journals Correlated structure of neuronal firing in macaque visual cortex limits information for binocular depth discrimination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackson Earle Tulonen Smith ◽  
Andrew J Parker
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Temporal Scale ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Depth Discrimination ◽  
Binocular Stereo ◽  
Integrative Processing ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Binocular Depth

Variability in cortical neural activity potentially limits sensory discriminations. Theoretical work shows that information required to discriminate two similar stimuli is limited by the correlation structure of cortical variability. We investigated these information-limiting correlations by recording simultaneously from visual cortical areas V1 and V4 in macaque monkeys, performing a binocular, stereo-depth discrimination task. Within both areas, noise correlations on a rapid temporal scale (20-30ms) were stronger for neuron-pairs with similar selectivity for binocular depth, meaning that these correlations potentially limit information for making the discrimination. Between-area correlations (V1 to V4) were different, being weaker for neuron pairs with similar tuning, and having a slower temporal scale (100+ms). Fluctuations in these information-limiting correlations just prior to the detection event were associated with changes in behavioral accuracy. Although these correlations limit the recovery of information about sensory targets, their impact may be curtailed by integrative processing of signals across multiple brain areas.

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