Nonlinear contribution of eye velocity to motion perception

• Published in: Vision research (Oxford) Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 385 - 395
• Main Authors: Turano, Kathleen A., Massof, Robert W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2001; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Analog-Digital Conversion; Biological and medical sciences; Extra-retinal signal; Eye movements; Eye Movements - physiology; Fixation, Ocular - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Motion perception; Motion Perception - physiology; Nonlinear Dynamics; Perception; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Smooth pursuit eye movements; Vision; Extra-retinal signal; Smooth pursuit eye movements; Eye movements; Motion perception; Eye; Human; Visual system; Stimulus movement; Vision; Perception; Retina; Pursuit eye movement; Velocity
• ISSN: 0042-6989; 1878-5646
• DOI: 10.1016/S0042-6989(00)00255-8

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that an extra-retinal signal combines with retinal velocity in a linear manner as described by existing models to determine perceived velocity. To do so, we utilized a method that allowed the determination of the relative contributions of the retinal-velocity and the extra-retinal signals for the perception of stimulus velocity. We determined the velocity (speed and direction) of a stimulus viewed with stationary eyes that was perceptually the same as the velocity of the stimulus viewed with moving eyes. Eye movements were governed by the tracking (or pursuit) of a separate pursuit target. The velocity-matching data were unable to be fit with a model that linearly combined a retinal-velocity signal and an extra-retinal signal. A model that was successful in explaining the data was one that takes the difference between two simple saturating non-linear functions, g and f, each symmetric about the origin, but one having an interaction term. That is, the function g has two arguments: retinal velocity, Ṙ, and eye velocity, Ė. The only argument to f is retinal velocity, Ṙ. Each argument has a scaling parameter. A comparison of the goodness of fits between models demonstrated that the success of the model is the interaction term, i.e. the modification of the compensating eye velocity signal by the retinal velocity prior to combination.