Vision Research最新文献

{"title":"Accentuation, Boolean maps and perception of (dis)similarity in a neural model of visual segmentation","authors":"Dražen Domijan,&nbsp;Ivana Ivančić","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108506","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108506","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We developed an interactive cortical circuit for visual segmentation that integrates bottom-up and top-down processing to segregate or group visual elements. A bottom-up pathway incorporates stimulus-driven saliency computation, top-down feature-based weighting by relevance and winner-take-all selection. A top-down pathway encompasses multiscale feedback projections, an object-based attention network and a visual segmentation network. Computer simulations have shown that a salient element in the stimulus guides spatial attention and further influences the decomposition of the nearby object into its parts, as postulated by the principle of accentuation. By contrast, when no single salient element is present, top-down feature-based attention highlights all locations occupied by the attended feature and the model forms a Boolean map, i.e., a spatial representation that makes the feature-based grouping explicit. The same distinction between bottom-up and top-down influences in perceptual organization can also be applied to texture perception. The model suggests that the principle of accentuation and feature-based similarity grouping are two manifestations of the same cortical circuit designed to detect similarities and dissimilarities of visual elements in a stimulus.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"225 ","pages":"Article 108506"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142560784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ovariectomy drives increase of an ECM transcription signature in the posterior eye and retina","authors":"Cydney A. Wong ,&nbsp;Gabriela Sanchez-Rodriguez ,&nbsp;C. Ross Ethier ,&nbsp;Levi B. Wood ,&nbsp;Andrew J. Feola","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108507","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108507","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increased risk of developing glaucoma has recently been associated with early age of menopause. Here, we examined how age and surgically-induced menopause via ovariectomy (OVX) impacted gene expression in gene pathways previously linked to glaucoma, such as extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and TGF-β signaling. Using bulk RNA sequencing, we analyzed changes in young (3–4 months) and middle-aged (9–10 months) Long-Evans rats. We focused on posterior pole tissues (sclera and optic nerve head) but also examined the retina to compare observed changes across different tissue regions. Our results demonstrated that aging and OVX significantly alter gene expression in the sclera and optic nerve head. Generally, OVX triggered the enrichment of immune-related processes. However, OVX in young rats also led to significant enrichment of ECM and TGF-β gene sets. At the same time, these effects were diminished in middle-aged rats, indicating an age dependency of the effects of OVX on matrix-related pathways. Notably, the transcriptional factor <em>Fos</em> was downregulated in the posterior eye and retina in aged and OVX animals. <em>Fos</em> is a major regulator of cell proliferation and survival, and its dysregulation may play an important role in aging and menopause for women. These findings underscore the important role of menopause timing in modulating molecular pathways associated with glaucoma, which is consistent with clinical studies showing that early menopause may heighten the risk of developing this condition. This study also highlights the importance of considering women’s health factors, such as menopause, in understanding and managing glaucoma risk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"225 ","pages":"Article 108507"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142547831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The concept of group and the theory of perception","authors":"Gerald Westheimer","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108504","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108504","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prompted by the title of Ernst <span><span>Cassirer’s 1944</span></span> essay, the origin of the idea of a Group theoretical approach, in the mathematical sense, in vision science is here explored, as well as the several ways in which its implementation had been attempted. That object recognition might proceed by a more generative approach rather than by separate individual cataloging had already been argued by Kant, and Cassirer examined how mathematical group theory might be called on for this purpose, in view of the success of its use in geometry and in the physical sciences. However, such a promise appears unlikely in view of the categorical differences between analysis of mental phenomena and of the physical world.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"225 ","pages":"Article 108504"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142531821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gene therapy for glaucoma: Targeting key mechanisms","authors":"Jeff Henderson,&nbsp;Jeffrey O’Callaghan,&nbsp;Matthew Campbell","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108502","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108502","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Glaucoma is a group of optic neuropathies characterised by progressive retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Current treatments for glaucoma focus on reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) with topical medications. However, many patients do not achieve sufficient IOP reductions with such treatments. Patient compliance to dosing schedules also poses a significant challenge, further limiting their effectiveness. While surgical options exist for resistant cases, these are invasive and carry risks of complications. Thus, there is a critical need for better strategies to prevent irreversible vision loss in glaucoma. Gene therapy holds significant promise in this regard, offering potential long-term solutions by targeting the disease’s underlying causes at a molecular level. Gene therapy strategies for glaucoma primarily target the two key hallmarks of the disease: elevated IOP and RGC death. This review explores key mechanisms underlying these hallmarks and discusses the current state of gene therapies targeting them. In terms of IOP reduction, this review covers strategies aimed at enhancing extracellular matrix turnover in the conventional outflow pathway, targeting fibrosis, regulating aqueous humor production, and targeting myocilin for gene-specific therapy. Neuroprotective strategies explored include targeting neurotrophic factors and their receptors, reducing oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, and preventing Wallerian degeneration. This review also briefly highlights key research priorities for advancing gene therapies for glaucoma through the clinical pipeline, such as refining delivery vectors and improving transgene regulation. Addressing these priorities will be essential for translating advancements from preclinical models into effective clinical therapies for glaucoma.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"225 ","pages":"Article 108502"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142446872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Individual differences in direction-selective motion adaptation revealed by change-detection performance","authors":"Kristina Zeljic,&nbsp;Joshua A. Solomon,&nbsp;Michael J. Morgan","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108490","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108490","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The motion aftereffect (MAE) and motion adaptation in general are usually considered to be universal phenomena. However, in a preliminary study using a bias-free measure of the MAE we found some individuals who showed at best a weak effect of adaptation. These same individuals also performed poorly in a “change detection“ test of motion adaptation based on visual search, leading to the conjecture that there is a bimodality in the population with respect to motion adaptation. The present study tested this possibility by screening 102 participants on two versions of the change-detection task while also considering potential confounding factors including eye movements, practice-based improvements, and deficits in visual search ability. The 5 strongest and the 5 weakest change detectors were selected for further testing of motion detection and contrast detection after adaptation. Data showed an inverse association between change-detection ability and performance in the motion-detection task. We extend previous findings by also showing <em>i</em>) the weakest change detectors exhibit less direction selectivity in their contrast thresholds after adapting to drifting gratings and <em>ii</em>) the ability to detect change in motion direction correlates with the ability to detect change in spatial orientation. Group differences between the strongest and weakest change detectors cannot be attributed to a lack of practice, nor can they be explained by poor fixation ability. Our results suggest genuine individual differences in the degree to which adaptation is specific to stimulus orientation and direction of motion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"225 ","pages":"Article 108490"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142373071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Time course and neural locus of the Flashed Face Distortion Effect","authors":"Yi Gao ,&nbsp;Kamilla N. Miller ,&nbsp;Michael A. Webster ,&nbsp;Michael A. Crognale ,&nbsp;Fang Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108492","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108492","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Viewing a rapid sequence of face images shown in the periphery can lead to large caricature-like distortions in the perceived images, a phenomenon known as the Flashed Face Distortion Effect (FFDE). The mechanisms underlying FFDE are poorly understood. Here we examined the timing and sites of the adaptation processes giving rise to the FFDE. To investigate the effects of presentation rate, we maintained consistent trial lengths while assessing how variations in the temporal frequencies of face presentation influenced the magnitude of face distortion and the averaging of facial expressions. Over a wide range of temporal frequencies (1.2–60 Hz) tested, we observed a decrease in FFDE strength as the presentation rate increased. To probe the neural sites of FFDE, we varied whether successive faces were presented to the same or different eyes using a dichoptic display. Distortion effects were comparable for monocular, binocular, and interocular conditions, yet much larger than a control condition where faces were presented with a temporal interval between successive images, suggesting a cortical locus for FFDE.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"224 ","pages":"Article 108492"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142354997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"No matter what you do, travel is travel in visual foraging","authors":"Injae Hong ,&nbsp;Grace Yan ,&nbsp;Jeremy M. Wolfe","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108491","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108491","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In visual foraging, foragers collect multiple items from a series of visual displays (or “patches”). When the goal is to maximize the total or the rate of collection of target items, foragers must decide when to leave a depleted patch given that “traveling” from one patch to another incurs a temporal cost. In three experiments, we investigated whether the interposition of a secondary task during travel between patches in visual foraging altered patch-leaving behavior. Over the course of 10- or 30-minute experiments, participants foraged in simulated “berry patches” and traveled to the next patch at will. While they traveled, they either actively performed a secondary task or simply observed passing visual stimuli. Travel time was varied across conditions. The addition of a secondary task, regardless of its relevance to visual foraging, to traveling, or to both, did not impact patch-leaving times in the primary visual foraging task. In Experiment 1 and more weakly in Experiment 2, the patch-leaving decision was based on how long the travel took as predicted by the Marginal Value Theorem (MVT). In Experiment 3, however, patch-leaving did not depend on travel time. Participants ‘overharvested’ in a manner that suggests that they may have adopted rules different from those of MVT. Across all three experiments, patch-leaving did not depend on the nature of the travel.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"224 ","pages":"Article 108491"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142326683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamics of the perceptive field size in human adults","authors":"Marzouk Yassin,&nbsp;Maria Lev,&nbsp;Uri Polat","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108488","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108488","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The receptive field (RF) is the fundamental processing unit of human vision; both masking and crowding depend on its size. The RF has a psychophysical corresponding term, the perceptive field (PF); whereas the RF is measured physiologically, the PF is measured psychophysically (a perceptual response). We investigated how spatial (lateral interactions), temporal (the stimulus presentation time), and the procedure affect the PF size for both monocular and binocular viewing. The stimuli consisted of a central vertically oriented Gabor target and high-contrast Gabor flankers positioned in two configurations (orthogonal or collinear) with target-flanker separations of either 2 or 3 wavelengths (λ). We used two main methods to control the monocular and binocular vision: mono-optic glasses vs. stereo glasses. The presentation order was either mixed or non-mixed for the presentation time and the eye condition. We estimated the PF size for both monocular and binocular viewing at 4 different presentation times (40, 80,120, and 200 ms) with different orders of presentation in each experiment (mono-optic glasses vs. stereo glasses, utilizing the lateral masking paradigm). In each experiment we explored one variable: how changing one parameter would affect the PF size in both monocular and binocular viewing (the temporal duration, the testing order of conditions, and the spatial distance) while keeping the others constant. We found that both the monocular and binocular PF size were dynamic and were significantly affected by the presentation order, leading to reduced lateral suppression under the collinear 2λ condition. Hence, both the monocular and binocular PF size depended on the sequence of the stimulus presentation time and the testing order of the conditions. Furthermore, we found that the binocular PF size was significantly larger than the monocular PF size.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"224 ","pages":"Article 108488"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142271168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Resting trabecular meshwork cells experience constitutive cation influx","authors":"Oleg Yarishkin ,&nbsp;Monika Lakk ,&nbsp;Christopher N. Rudzitis ,&nbsp;Jordan E. Searle ,&nbsp;Denisa Kirdajova ,&nbsp;David Križaj","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108487","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108487","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A quintessential sentinel of cell health, the membrane potential in nonexcitable cells integrates biochemical and biomechanical inputs, determines the driving force for ionic currents activated by input signals and plays critical functions in cellular differentiation, signaling, and pathology. The identity and properties of ion channels that subserve the resting potential in trabecular meshwork (TM) cells is poorly understood, which impairs our understanding of intraocular pressure regulation in healthy and diseased eyes. Here, we identified a powerful cationic conductance that subserves the TM resting potential. It disappears following Na⁺ removal or substitution with choline or NMDG⁺, is insensitive to TTX, verapamil, phenamil methanesulfonate, amiloride and GsMTx4, is substituted by Li⁺ and Cs⁺, and inhibited by Gd³⁺ and Ruthenium Red. Constitutive cation influx is thus not mediated by voltage-operated Na⁺, Ca²⁺, epithelial Na⁺ (ENaC) channels, Piezo channels or Na⁺/H⁺ exchange but may involve TRP-like channels. Transcriptional analysis detected expression of many TRP genes, with the transcriptome pool dominated by TRPC1 followed by expression of TRPV1, TRPC3, TRPV4 and TRPC5. Pyr3 and Pico1,4,5 did not affect the standing current whereas SKF96365 promoted rather than suppressed, Na⁺ influx. SEA-0400 induced a modest hyperpolarization, indicating residual contribution from Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchange. The resting membrane potential in human TM cells is thus maintained by a constitutive monovalent cation leak current with properties not unlike those of TRP channels. This conductance is likely to influence conventional outflow by setting the homeostatic steady-state and by regulating the magnitude of pressure-induced currents in normotensive and hypertensive eyes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"224 ","pages":"Article 108487"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142243236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optical phase nullification partially restores visual and stereo acuity lost to simulated blur from higher-order wavefront aberrations of keratoconic eyes","authors":"Bhagya Lakshmi Marella ,&nbsp;Miriam L. Conway ,&nbsp;Pravin K. Vaddavalli ,&nbsp;Catherine M. Suttle ,&nbsp;Shrikant R. Bharadwaj","doi":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108486","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.visres.2024.108486","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Contrast demodulation and phase distortions are exaggerated in retinal images blurred by the higher-order wavefront aberrations of keratoconic eyes. While the performance loss from the former parameter is well understood, little is known about the impact of the latter on visual functions in this disease condition. The present study investigated the impact of phase distortions on the monocular logMAR visual acuity, letter discriminability and random-dot stereoacuity of seventeen visually healthy adults (ten for visual acuity and letter discriminability; ten for stereoacuity and three common to both experiments) using images that were computationally blurred by four different higher-order wavefront aberration profiles of keratoconic eyes that showed significant distortions in the phase spectrum. Participants viewed these images through 2 mm artificial pupils to negate their native ocular wavefront aberrations. The results showed progressive losses in visual acuity and stereoacuity with increasing blur, a third of which could be recovered following phase nullification. Letter discriminability also improved following phase nullification, more so for smaller than larger optotypes. Stereoacuity loss and, consequently, its recovery following phase nullification was more prominent for profiles simulating unilateral asymmetric keratoconus than for profiles simulating bilateral symmetric keratoconus. These results agree with previous reports obtained from blur induced with lower-order aberrations and indicate that a similar trend may be observed for more complex patterns of blur like keratoconus. Overall, both contrast demodulation and misalignment of the local features of the blurred image may contribute to losses of spatial and depth vision in keratoconus. Phase nullification may partially mitigate these losses, thereby allowing the processing of finer spatial details and veridical disparity estimations for improved depth perception.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23670,"journal":{"name":"Vision Research","volume":"224 ","pages":"Article 108486"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142243235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}