Differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats
Abstract Introduction The perception of a target stimulus can be impaired by a subsequent mask stimulus, even if they do not overlap temporally or spatially. This “backward masking” is commonly used to modulate a subject's awareness of a target and to characterize the temporal dynamics of visio...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Brain and Behavior |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1368 |
| _version_ | 1818152292687282176 |
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| author | Katrina L. Dell Ehsan Arabzadeh Nicholas S. C. Price |
| author_facet | Katrina L. Dell Ehsan Arabzadeh Nicholas S. C. Price |
| author_sort | Katrina L. Dell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Introduction The perception of a target stimulus can be impaired by a subsequent mask stimulus, even if they do not overlap temporally or spatially. This “backward masking” is commonly used to modulate a subject's awareness of a target and to characterize the temporal dynamics of vision. Masking is most apparent with brief, low‐contrast targets, making detection difficult even in the absence of a mask. Although necessary to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms, evaluating masking phenomena in animal models is particularly challenging, as the task structure and critical stimulus features to be attended must be learned incrementally through rewards and feedback. Despite the increasing popularity of rodents in vision research, it is unclear if they are susceptible to masking illusions. Methods We characterized how spatially surrounding masks affected the detection of sine‐wave grating targets. Results In humans (n = 5) and rats (n = 7), target detection improved with contrast and was reduced by the presence of a mask. After controlling for biases to respond induced by the presence of the mask, a clear reduction in detectability was caused by masks. This reduction was evident when data were averaged across all animals, but was only individually significant in three animals. Conclusions While perceptual masking occurs in rats, it may be difficult to observe consistently in individual animals because the complexity of the requisite task pushes the limits of their behavioral capabilities. We suggest methods to ensure that masking, and similarly subtle effects, can be reliably characterized in future experiments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T13:52:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22df2a8120584c5f81c4c0e4c3514ebc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2162-3279 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T13:52:24Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain and Behavior |
| spelling | doaj.art-22df2a8120584c5f81c4c0e4c3514ebc2022-12-22T01:04:12ZengWileyBrain and Behavior2162-32792019-09-0199n/an/a10.1002/brb3.1368Differences in perceptual masking between humans and ratsKatrina L. Dell0Ehsan Arabzadeh1Nicholas S. C. Price2Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute Monash University Clayton Vic. AustraliaJohn Curtin School of Medical Research, Eccles Institute of Neuroscience The Australian National University Canberra ACT AustraliaNeuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute Monash University Clayton Vic. AustraliaAbstract Introduction The perception of a target stimulus can be impaired by a subsequent mask stimulus, even if they do not overlap temporally or spatially. This “backward masking” is commonly used to modulate a subject's awareness of a target and to characterize the temporal dynamics of vision. Masking is most apparent with brief, low‐contrast targets, making detection difficult even in the absence of a mask. Although necessary to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms, evaluating masking phenomena in animal models is particularly challenging, as the task structure and critical stimulus features to be attended must be learned incrementally through rewards and feedback. Despite the increasing popularity of rodents in vision research, it is unclear if they are susceptible to masking illusions. Methods We characterized how spatially surrounding masks affected the detection of sine‐wave grating targets. Results In humans (n = 5) and rats (n = 7), target detection improved with contrast and was reduced by the presence of a mask. After controlling for biases to respond induced by the presence of the mask, a clear reduction in detectability was caused by masks. This reduction was evident when data were averaged across all animals, but was only individually significant in three animals. Conclusions While perceptual masking occurs in rats, it may be difficult to observe consistently in individual animals because the complexity of the requisite task pushes the limits of their behavioral capabilities. We suggest methods to ensure that masking, and similarly subtle effects, can be reliably characterized in future experiments.https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1368backward maskingorientation detectionperceptionrat |
| spellingShingle | Katrina L. Dell Ehsan Arabzadeh Nicholas S. C. Price Differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats Brain and Behavior backward masking orientation detection perception rat |
| title | Differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats |
| title_full | Differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats |
| title_fullStr | Differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats |
| title_short | Differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats |
| title_sort | differences in perceptual masking between humans and rats |
| topic | backward masking orientation detection perception rat |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1368 |
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