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Central factors contributing to para-contrast modulation of contour and brightness perception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2007

BRUNO G. BREITMEYER ,
RALPH ZIEGLER  and
GERT HAUSKE
BRUNO G. BREITMEYER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas Center for Neuro-Engineering and Cognitive Science, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
RALPH ZIEGLER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas Lehrstuhl für Nachrichtentechnik, Technische Universität München, München, Germany
GERT HAUSKE
Affiliation:
Lehrstuhl für Nachrichtentechnik, Technische Universität München, München, Germany
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Abstract

Following up on a prior study of contour and brightness processing in visual masking (Breitmeyer et al., 2006), we investigated the effects of a binocular and dichoptic para-contrast masking on the visibility of the contour and brightness of a target presented to the other eye. Combined, the results support the contributions of several cortical processes to para-contrast: (1) two central sources of inhibition, one long-latency and prolonged and the other short-latency and brief; (2) binocular rivalry suppression; and (3) a facilitatory effect peaking at different SOAs for the contour and the brightness tasks, reflecting; (4) known properties of two separate cortical systems, one a fast contour-processing pathway and the other a slower brightness-processing pathway.

Keywords

ContourBrightnessCortical processingSuppressionFacilitation
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , March 2007 , pp. 191 - 196
Copyright
2007 Cambridge University Press

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