Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and Direction
Motion speed and direction are two fundamental cues for the mammalian visual system. Neurons in various places of the neocortex show tuning properties in term of firing frequency to both speed and direction. The present study applied a 32-channel electroencephalograph (EEG) system to 13 human subjec...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/2/160 |
| _version_ | 1797298774960242688 |
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| author | Rassam Rassam Qi Chen Yan Gai |
| author_facet | Rassam Rassam Qi Chen Yan Gai |
| author_sort | Rassam Rassam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Motion speed and direction are two fundamental cues for the mammalian visual system. Neurons in various places of the neocortex show tuning properties in term of firing frequency to both speed and direction. The present study applied a 32-channel electroencephalograph (EEG) system to 13 human subjects while they were observing a single object moving with different speeds in various directions from the center of view to the periphery on a computer monitor. Depending on the experimental condition, the subjects were either required to fix their gaze at the center of the monitor while the object was moving or to track the movement with their gaze; eye-tracking glasses were used to ensure that they followed instructions. In each trial, motion speed and direction varied randomly and independently, forming two competing visual features. EEG signal classification was performed for each cue separately (e.g., 11 speed values or 11 directions), regardless of variations in the other cue. Under the eye-fixed condition, multiple subjects showed distinct preferences to motion direction over speed; however, two outliers showed superb sensitivity to speed. Under the eye-tracking condition, in which the EEG signals presumably contained ocular movement signals, all subjects showed predominantly better classification for motion direction. There was a trend that speed and direction were encoded by different electrode sites. Since EEG is a noninvasive and portable approach suitable for brain–computer interfaces (BCIs), this study provides insights on fundamental knowledge of the visual system as well as BCI applications based on visual stimulation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:39:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-acc4d0e39cd74e8ea150907ae5778f6c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:39:55Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-acc4d0e39cd74e8ea150907ae5778f6c2024-02-23T15:09:45ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252024-02-0114216010.3390/brainsci14020160Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and DirectionRassam Rassam0Qi Chen1Yan Gai2Biomedical Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63103, USABiomedical Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63103, USABiomedical Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63103, USAMotion speed and direction are two fundamental cues for the mammalian visual system. Neurons in various places of the neocortex show tuning properties in term of firing frequency to both speed and direction. The present study applied a 32-channel electroencephalograph (EEG) system to 13 human subjects while they were observing a single object moving with different speeds in various directions from the center of view to the periphery on a computer monitor. Depending on the experimental condition, the subjects were either required to fix their gaze at the center of the monitor while the object was moving or to track the movement with their gaze; eye-tracking glasses were used to ensure that they followed instructions. In each trial, motion speed and direction varied randomly and independently, forming two competing visual features. EEG signal classification was performed for each cue separately (e.g., 11 speed values or 11 directions), regardless of variations in the other cue. Under the eye-fixed condition, multiple subjects showed distinct preferences to motion direction over speed; however, two outliers showed superb sensitivity to speed. Under the eye-tracking condition, in which the EEG signals presumably contained ocular movement signals, all subjects showed predominantly better classification for motion direction. There was a trend that speed and direction were encoded by different electrode sites. Since EEG is a noninvasive and portable approach suitable for brain–computer interfaces (BCIs), this study provides insights on fundamental knowledge of the visual system as well as BCI applications based on visual stimulation.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/2/160motionspeeddirectionvisualEEGBCI |
| spellingShingle | Rassam Rassam Qi Chen Yan Gai Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and Direction Brain Sciences motion speed direction visual EEG BCI |
| title | Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and Direction |
| title_full | Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and Direction |
| title_fullStr | Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and Direction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and Direction |
| title_short | Competing Visual Cues Revealed by Electroencephalography: Sensitivity to Motion Speed and Direction |
| title_sort | competing visual cues revealed by electroencephalography sensitivity to motion speed and direction |
| topic | motion speed direction visual EEG BCI |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/2/160 |
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