Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study
Viewing a real scene or a stereoscopic image (e.g., 3D movies) with both eyes yields a vivid subjective impression of object solidity, tangibility, immersive negative space and sense of realness; something that is not experienced when viewing single pictures of 3D scenes normally with both eyes. Thi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00646/full |
| _version_ | 1818839529294921728 |
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| author | Makoto Uji Angelika Lingnau Ian Cavin Dhanraj Vishwanath |
| author_facet | Makoto Uji Angelika Lingnau Ian Cavin Dhanraj Vishwanath |
| author_sort | Makoto Uji |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Viewing a real scene or a stereoscopic image (e.g., 3D movies) with both eyes yields a vivid subjective impression of object solidity, tangibility, immersive negative space and sense of realness; something that is not experienced when viewing single pictures of 3D scenes normally with both eyes. This phenomenology, sometimes referred to as stereopsis, is conventionally ascribed to the derivation of depth from the differences in the two eye’s images (binocular disparity). Here we report on a pilot study designed to explore if dissociable neural activity associated with the phenomenology of realness can be localized in the cortex. In order to dissociate subjective impression from disparity processing, we capitalized on the finding that the impression of realness associated with stereoscopic viewing can also be generated when viewing a single picture of a 3D scene with one eye through an aperture. Under a blocked fMRI design, subjects viewed intact and scrambled images of natural 3-D objects, and scenes under three viewing conditions: (1) single pictures viewed normally with both eyes (binocular); (2) single pictures viewed with one eye through an aperture (monocular-aperture); and (3) stereoscopic anaglyph images of the same scenes viewed with both eyes (binocular stereopsis). Fixed-effects GLM contrasts aimed at isolating the phenomenology of stereopsis demonstrated a selective recruitment of similar posterior parietal regions for both monocular and binocular stereopsis conditions. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that the cortical processing underlying the subjective impression of realness may be dissociable and distinct from the derivation of depth from disparity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:55:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-40541bf24369409b9f00698a7620c477 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:55:44Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-40541bf24369409b9f00698a7620c4772022-12-21T20:36:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2019-07-011310.3389/fnins.2019.00646455659Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI StudyMakoto Uji0Angelika Lingnau1Ian Cavin2Dhanraj Vishwanath3School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United KingdomInstitute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, GermanyTAyside Medical Science Centre (TASC), NHS Tayside, Dundee, United KingdomSchool of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United KingdomViewing a real scene or a stereoscopic image (e.g., 3D movies) with both eyes yields a vivid subjective impression of object solidity, tangibility, immersive negative space and sense of realness; something that is not experienced when viewing single pictures of 3D scenes normally with both eyes. This phenomenology, sometimes referred to as stereopsis, is conventionally ascribed to the derivation of depth from the differences in the two eye’s images (binocular disparity). Here we report on a pilot study designed to explore if dissociable neural activity associated with the phenomenology of realness can be localized in the cortex. In order to dissociate subjective impression from disparity processing, we capitalized on the finding that the impression of realness associated with stereoscopic viewing can also be generated when viewing a single picture of a 3D scene with one eye through an aperture. Under a blocked fMRI design, subjects viewed intact and scrambled images of natural 3-D objects, and scenes under three viewing conditions: (1) single pictures viewed normally with both eyes (binocular); (2) single pictures viewed with one eye through an aperture (monocular-aperture); and (3) stereoscopic anaglyph images of the same scenes viewed with both eyes (binocular stereopsis). Fixed-effects GLM contrasts aimed at isolating the phenomenology of stereopsis demonstrated a selective recruitment of similar posterior parietal regions for both monocular and binocular stereopsis conditions. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that the cortical processing underlying the subjective impression of realness may be dissociable and distinct from the derivation of depth from disparity.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00646/fullrealnessstereopsisfMRIparietal cortexintraparietal sulcus3D perception |
| spellingShingle | Makoto Uji Angelika Lingnau Ian Cavin Dhanraj Vishwanath Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study Frontiers in Neuroscience realness stereopsis fMRI parietal cortex intraparietal sulcus 3D perception |
| title | Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study |
| title_full | Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study |
| title_fullStr | Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study |
| title_short | Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study |
| title_sort | identifying cortical substrates underlying the phenomenology of stereopsis and realness a pilot fmri study |
| topic | realness stereopsis fMRI parietal cortex intraparietal sulcus 3D perception |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00646/full |
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