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Journal ArticleDOI

The Psychophysics Toolbox.

01 Jan 1997-Spatial Vision (Brill)-Vol. 10, Iss: 4, pp 433-436
TL;DR: The Psychophysics Toolbox is a software package that supports visual psychophysics and its routines provide an interface between a high-level interpreted language and the video display hardware.
Abstract: The Psychophysics Toolbox is a software package that supports visual psychophysics. Its routines provide an interface between a high-level interpreted language (MATLAB on the Macintosh) and the video display hardware. A set of example programs is included with the Toolbox distribution.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2003-Brain
TL;DR: The present data support the phonological theory of dyslexia, while acknowledging the presence of additional sensory and motor disorders in certain individuals.
Abstract: A multiple case study was conducted in order to assess three leading theories of developmental dyslexia: (i) the phonological theory, (ii) the magnocellular (auditory and visual) theory and (iii) the cerebellar theory. Sixteen dyslexic and 16 control university students were administered a full battery of psychometric, phonological, auditory, visual and cerebellar tests. Individual data reveal that all 16 dyslexics suffer from a phonological deficit, 10 from an auditory deficit, four from a motor deficit and two from a visual magnocellular deficit. Results suggest that a phonological deficit can appear in the absence of any other sensory or motor disorder, and is sufficient to cause a literacy impairment, as demonstrated by five of the dyslexics. Auditory disorders, when present, aggravate the phonological deficit, hence the literacy impairment. However, auditory deficits cannot be characterized simply as rapid auditory processing problems, as would be predicted by the magnocellular theory. Nor are they restricted to speech. Contrary to the cerebellar theory, we find little support for the notion that motor impairments, when found, have a cerebellar origin or reflect an automaticity deficit. Overall, the present data support the phonological theory of dyslexia, while acknowledging the presence of additional sensory and motor disorders in certain individuals.

1,366 citations


Cites methods from "The Psychophysics Toolbox."

  • ...All participants were required to pass a pure-tone screen using a standard clinical audiometer at or better than 25 dB HL (hearing level) at frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 kHz, in both ears....

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Journal ArticleDOI
25 Feb 2010-Neuron
TL;DR: The response properties of neurons in primary visual cortex of awake mice that were allowed to run on a freely rotating spherical treadmill with their heads fixed demonstrated powerful cell-type-specific modulation of visual processing by behavioral state in awake mice.

1,326 citations


Additional excerpts

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The range of tools and stimuli that PsychoPy provides, using OpenGL to generate very precise visual stimuli on standard personal computers, and the environment in which experiments are conducted are described.
Abstract: PsychoPy is a software library written in Python, using OpenGL to generate very precise visual stimuli on standard personal computers. It is designed to allow the construction of as wide a variety of neuroscience experiments as possible, with the least effort. By writing scripts in standard Python syntax users can generate an enormous variety of visual and auditory stimuli and can interact with a wide range of external hardware (enabling its use in fMRI, EEG, MEG etc.). The structure of scripts is simple and intuitive. As a result, new experiments can be written very quickly, and trying to understand a previously written script is easy, even with minimal code comments. PsychoPy can also generate movies and image sequences to be used in demos or simulated neuroscience experiments. This paper describes the range of tools and stimuli that it provides and the environment in which experiments are conducted.

1,321 citations


Cites methods from "The Psychophysics Toolbox."

  • ...A previous publication (Peirce, 2007) describes the design philosophy and underlying mechanisms of PsychoPy and its relationship to other software packages, such as Vision Egg (Straw, 2008) and Psychophysics Toolbox (Brainard, 1997; Pelli, 1997)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The aim of the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Task Force on EBC was to identify the important methodological issues surrounding EBC collection and assay, to provide recommendations for the measurements and to highlight areas where further research is required.
Abstract: Collection of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a noninvasive method for obtaining samples from the lungs. EBC contains large number of mediators including adenosine, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, isoprostanes, leukotrienes, nitrogen oxides, peptides and cytokines. Concentrations of these mediators are influenced by lung diseases and modulated by therapeutic interventions. Similarly EBC pH also changes in respiratory diseases. The aim of the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Task Force on EBC was to identify the important methodological issues surrounding EBC collection and assay, to provide recommendations for the measurements and to highlight areas where further research is required. Based on the currently available evidence and the consensus of the expert panel for EBC collection, the following general recommendations were put together for oral sample collection: collect during tidal breathing using a noseclip and a saliva trap; define cooling temperature and collection time (10 min is generally sufficient to obtain 1-2 mL of sample and well tolerated by patients); use inert material for condenser; do not use resistor and do not use filter between the subject and the condenser. These are only general recommendations and certain circumstances may dictate variation from them. Important areas for future research involve: ascertaining mechanisms and site of exhaled breath condensate particle formation; determination of dilution markers; improving reproducibility; employment of EBC in longitudinal studies; and determining the utility of exhaled breath condensate measures for the management of individual patients. These studies are required before recommending this technique for use in clinical practice.

1,202 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: GCaMP5 fluorescence provides a more reliable measure of neuronal activity than its predecessor GCaMP3, which allows more sensitive detection of neural activity in vivo and may find widespread applications for cellular imaging in general.
Abstract: Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) are powerful tools for systems neuroscience. Recent efforts in protein engineering have significantly increased the performance of GECIs. The state-of-the art single-wavelength GECI, GCaMP3, has been deployed in a number of model organisms and can reliably detect three or more action potentials in short bursts in several systems in vivo. Through protein structure determination, targeted mutagenesis, high-throughput screening, and a battery of in vitro assays, we have increased the dynamic range of GCaMP3 by severalfold, creating a family of “GCaMP5” sensors. We tested GCaMP5s in several systems: cultured neurons and astrocytes, mouse retina, and in vivo in Caenorhabditis chemosensory neurons, Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction and adult antennal lobe, zebrafish retina and tectum, and mouse visual cortex. Signal-to-noise ratio was improved by at least 2- to 3-fold. In the visual cortex, two GCaMP5 variants detected twice as many visual stimulus-responsive cells as GCaMP3. By combining in vivo imaging with electrophysiology we show that GCaMP5 fluorescence provides a more reliable measure of neuronal activity than its predecessor GCaMP3. GCaMP5 allows more sensitive detection of neural activity in vivo and may find widespread applications for cellular imaging in general.

1,179 citations


Cites methods from "The Psychophysics Toolbox."

  • ...The moving grating stimuli were generated using the Psychophysics Toolbox (Brainard, 1997; Pelli, 1997) in MATLAB....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The VideoToolbox is a free collection of two hundred C subroutines for Macintosh computers that calibrates and controls the computer-display interface to create accurately specified visual stimuli.
Abstract: The VideoToolbox is a free collection of two hundred C subroutines for Macintosh computers that calibrates and controls the computer-display interface to create accurately specified visual stimuli. High-level platform-independent languages like MATLAB are best for creating the numbers that describe the desired images. Low-level, computer-specific VideoToolbox routines control the hardware that transforms those numbers into a movie. Transcending the particular computer and language, we discuss the nature of the computer-display interface, and how to calibrate and control it.

10,084 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An adaptive psychometric procedure that places each trial at the current most probable Bayesian estimate of threshold is described, taking advantage of the common finding that the human psychometric function is invariant in form when expressed as a function of log intensity.
Abstract: An adaptive psychometric procedure that places each trial at the current most probable Bayesian estimate of threshold is described. The procedure takes advantage of the common finding that the human psychometric function is invariant in form when expressed as a function of log intensity. The procedure is simple, fast, and efficient, and may be easily implemented on any computer.

2,334 citations


"The Psychophysics Toolbox." refers methods in this paper

  • ...Ancilliary routines support commonly used procedures such as color space transformations (Brainard, 1995) and the QUEST (Watson and Pelli, 1983; Pelli and Farell, 1995) threshold seeking algorithm....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An easy-to-build passive resistor network, a video attenuator, that combines the outputs of three 8-bit DACs to render low contrasts with 12-bit accuracy at the display is presented.

478 citations


"The Psychophysics Toolbox." refers methods in this paper

  • ...core routines rely on the subroutines in Pelli's VideoToolbox ( Pelli and Zhang, 1991; Pelli, 1996)...

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  • ...The core routines rely on the subroutines in Pelli's VideoToolbox (Pelli and Zhang, 1991; Pelli, 1996) which provide low-level control of the Macintosh display hardware....

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