Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage
Abstract That binocular viewing confers an advantage over monocular viewing for detecting isolated low luminance or low contrast objects, has been known for well over a century; however, the processes involved in combining the images from the two eyes are still not fully understood. Importantly, in...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96053-9 |
| _version_ | 1818420266326294528 |
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| author | Maria Lev Jian Ding Uri Polat Dennis M. Levi |
| author_facet | Maria Lev Jian Ding Uri Polat Dennis M. Levi |
| author_sort | Maria Lev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract That binocular viewing confers an advantage over monocular viewing for detecting isolated low luminance or low contrast objects, has been known for well over a century; however, the processes involved in combining the images from the two eyes are still not fully understood. Importantly, in natural vision, objects are rarely isolated but appear in context. It is well known that nearby contours can either facilitate or suppress detection, depending on their distance from the target and the global configuration. Here we report that at close distances collinear (but not orthogonal) flanking contours suppress detection more under binocular compared to monocular viewing, thus completely abolishing the binocular advantage, both at threshold and suprathreshold levels. In contrast, more distant flankers facilitate both monocular and binocular detection, preserving a binocular advantage up to about four times the detection threshold. Our results for monocular and binocular viewing, for threshold contrast discrimination without nearby flankers, can be explained by a gain control model with uncertainty and internal multiplicative noise adding additional constraints on detection. However, in context with nearby flankers, both contrast detection threshold and suprathreshold contrast appearance matching require the addition of both target-to-target and flank-to-target interactions occurring before the site of binocular combination. To test an alternative model, in which the interactions occur after the site of binocular combination, we performed a dichoptic contrast matching experiment, with the target presented to one eye, and the flanks to the other eye. The two models make very different predictions for abutting flanks under dichoptic conditions. Interactions after the combination site predict that the perceived contrast of the flanked target will be strongly suppressed, while interactions before the site predict the perceived contrast will be more or less veridical. The data are consistent with the latter model, strongly suggesting that the interactions take place before the site of binocular combination. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:51:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ea52eddee55b4d2b9583f88c120978de |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:51:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-ea52eddee55b4d2b9583f88c120978de2022-12-21T23:00:40ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222021-08-0111111710.1038/s41598-021-96053-9Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantageMaria Lev0Jian Ding1Uri Polat2Dennis M. Levi3School of Optometry and Vision Science, The Mina & Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan UniversitySchool of Optometry and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California BerkeleySchool of Optometry and Vision Science, The Mina & Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan UniversitySchool of Optometry and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California BerkeleyAbstract That binocular viewing confers an advantage over monocular viewing for detecting isolated low luminance or low contrast objects, has been known for well over a century; however, the processes involved in combining the images from the two eyes are still not fully understood. Importantly, in natural vision, objects are rarely isolated but appear in context. It is well known that nearby contours can either facilitate or suppress detection, depending on their distance from the target and the global configuration. Here we report that at close distances collinear (but not orthogonal) flanking contours suppress detection more under binocular compared to monocular viewing, thus completely abolishing the binocular advantage, both at threshold and suprathreshold levels. In contrast, more distant flankers facilitate both monocular and binocular detection, preserving a binocular advantage up to about four times the detection threshold. Our results for monocular and binocular viewing, for threshold contrast discrimination without nearby flankers, can be explained by a gain control model with uncertainty and internal multiplicative noise adding additional constraints on detection. However, in context with nearby flankers, both contrast detection threshold and suprathreshold contrast appearance matching require the addition of both target-to-target and flank-to-target interactions occurring before the site of binocular combination. To test an alternative model, in which the interactions occur after the site of binocular combination, we performed a dichoptic contrast matching experiment, with the target presented to one eye, and the flanks to the other eye. The two models make very different predictions for abutting flanks under dichoptic conditions. Interactions after the combination site predict that the perceived contrast of the flanked target will be strongly suppressed, while interactions before the site predict the perceived contrast will be more or less veridical. The data are consistent with the latter model, strongly suggesting that the interactions take place before the site of binocular combination.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96053-9 |
| spellingShingle | Maria Lev Jian Ding Uri Polat Dennis M. Levi Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage Scientific Reports |
| title | Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage |
| title_full | Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage |
| title_fullStr | Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage |
| title_short | Nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage |
| title_sort | nearby contours abolish the binocular advantage |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96053-9 |
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