Functional characteristics of the receptive field of looming detectors for perception of motion in depth K Susami |
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Department of Psychology, Kinki University, Japan
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| Adaptation to a stimulus that changes size produces the aftereffect of motion in depth. Two vertical lines moving in opposite directions and an orthogonal pair of lines in relative motion produce the aftereffect of motion in depth (Susami, 1994, 17ECVP Supplement, 38-39; 1995, 18ECVP Supplement, 112). These results show that relative motion (anti-phase components; Regan et al., 1979, Scientific American, 241, 136-151) is important for looming detection in the perception of motion in depth. In this study, we examine the functional characteristics of the receptive field of the looming detector caused by the motion-in-depth aftereffect by using two adaptation lines moving in opposite directions. When the distance between the two moving lines increased, the motion-in-depth aftereffect decreased, and disappeared at 3 degrees or so. When the two test stimuli were presented to the two adaptation areas with a test stimulus between them (within the receptive field), the motion-in-depth aftereffect also occurred in the center test stimulus. These results suggest that the looming mechanisms detect not the optical flow of the whole retinal image while in self-forward motion but the retinal area of the moving object in depth; moreover, these mechanisms process the inside of the receptive field of the object. |
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