Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T23:19:44.118Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cortical interactions in texture processing: Scale and dynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Jonathan D. Victor
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Cornell University Medical College, New York City, and Laboratory of Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York City
Mary M. Conte
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Cornell University Medical College, New York City, and Laboratory of Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York City

Abstract

We investigate the neural computations underlying pattern processing with stimuli based on textures balanced for spatial frequency content (and second-order correlations) but not for higher-order correlations (Julesz et al. 1978). Interchange between two such isodipole textures produces a robust human visual evoked potential (VEP). The difference in population activity driven by two isodipole textures is quantified by the antisymmetric component of the VEP. Statistical properties of the textures eliminate contributions from linear mechanisms to the antisymmetric VEP.

The dependence of the antisymmetric VEP on check size and fourth-order correlation statistics is used to test nonlinear models for the underlying neural computations. Linear summation, followed by a simple nonlinearity (such as rectification, saturation, or threshold), is inconsistent with the data. More elaborate models, in which a second nonlinear stage combines the output of local nonlinear mechanisms, are consistent with the data, provided that an appropriate spatial scale is chosen for the second stage of processing. For checks 4 min or smaller, the deduced interaction length is 10–15 min. For checks larger than 4 min, the interaction length is proportional to check size.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergen, J.R. & Julesz, B. (1983). Parallel versus serial processing in rapid pattern discrimination. Nature 303, 696698.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Monasterio, F.M. (1978). Properties of concentrically organized X and Y ganglion cells of macaque monkey retina. Journal of Neu-rophysiology 41, 13941417.Google Scholar
de Valois, R.L., Albrecht, D.G. & Thorell, L.G. (1982). Spatial-frequency selectivity of cells in macaque visual cortex. Vision Research 22, 545559.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dow, B.M., Vautto, R.G. & Bauer, R. (1984). The mapping of visual space onto foveal striate cortex in the macaque monkey. Journal of Neuroscience 5, 890902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emerson, R.C., Citron, M., Vaughn, W.J. & Klein, S. (1987). Nonlinear directionally selective subunits in complex cells of cat striate cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 58, 3365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enroth-Cugell, C. & Robson, J.G. (1966). The contrast sensitivity of retinal ganglion cells of the cat. Journal of Physiology 187, 517552.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gagalowitz, A. (1981). A new method for texture fields synthesis: some applications to the study of human vision. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence PAMI-3, 520523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gagalowitz, A. & MA, S.D. (1985). Sequential synthesis of natural textures. Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing 30, 289315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochstein, S. & Shapley, R.M. (1976). Linear and nonlinear spatial subunits in Y cat retinal ganglion cells. Journal of Physiology 262, 265284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Julesz, B. (1962). Visual pattern discrimination. IRE Transactions Inf. Theory IT-8, 8492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Julesz, B. (1981). Textons, the elements of texture perception, and their interactions. Nature 290, 9197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Julesz, B., Gilbert, E. & Victor, J.D. (1978). Visual discrimination of textures with identical third-order statistics. Biological Cybernetics 31, 137140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaplan, E. & Shapley, R.M. (1982). X and Y cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of macaque monkeys. Journal of Physiology 330, 125143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levi, D.M., Klein, S.A. & Attsebaomo, A.P. (1985). Vernier acuity, crowding, and cortical magnification. Vision Research 25, 963977.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milkman, N., Schick, G., Rossetto, M., Ratliff, F., Shapley, R. & Victor, J.D. (1980). A two-dimensional computer-controlled visual stimulator. Behavioral Research Methods and Instrumentation 12, 283292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Movshon, J.A., Thompson, I.D. & Tolhurst, D.J. (1978 a). Spatial summation in the receptive fields of simple cells in the cat's striate cortex. Journal of Physiology 283, 5377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Movshon, J.A., Thompson, I.D. & Tolhurst, D.J. (1978 b). Receptive-field organization of complex cells in the cat's striate cortex. Journal of Physiology 283, 7999.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, H. & Hochstein, S. (1985 a). Simple- and complex-cell response dependences on stimulation parameters. Journal of Neurophysiology 53, 12441265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, H. & Hochstein, S. (1985 a). A complex-cell receptive-field model. Journal of Neurophysiology 53, 12661286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, J.D. (1985). Complex visual textures as a tool for studying the VEP. Vision Research 25, 18111827.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, J.D. (1986). Isolation of components due to intracortical processing in the visual evoked potential. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 83, 79847988.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, J.D. (1988). The dynamics of the cat retinal Y cell subunit. Journal of Physiology 405, 289320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, J.D. & Conte, M.M. (1987 a). Visual evoked potentials elicited by simple and complex textures: distinct components with similar scalp topographies. In Evoked Potentials III: The Third International Evoked Potentials Symposium, ed. Barber, C. & Blum, T.Boston: Butterworths, pp. 183189.Google Scholar
Victor, J.D. & Conte, M.M. (1987 b). Local and long-range interactions in pattern processing. (Abstract) Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 28 (Suppl.) 362.Google Scholar
Victor, J.D. & Zemon, V. (1985). The human visual evoked potential: analysis of components due to elementary and complex aspects of form. Vision Research 25, 18291844.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed