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Contrast (vision)

About: Contrast (vision) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10379 publications have been published within this topic receiving 221480 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a population of hospital ophthalmology patients, the coefficient of repeatability is better for the Mars chart and worse for the Test Chart 2000 when compared with the Pelli–Robson chart.
Abstract: Background: Contrast sensitivity measurement in UK clinical practice is most commonly performed with the Pelli–Robson chart. Aims: To compare the repeatability of two new contrast sensitivity charts and to measure their agreement with the Pelli–Robson charts. Method: Contrast sensitivity was measured monocularly using two versions of the Mars letter contrast sensitivity chart, two presentations on the Test Chart 2000 and two versions of the Pelli–Robson chart. Bland–Altman techniques were used to assess repeatability and agreement. Results: 53 subjects were recruited with visual acuity from 6/4 to 6/72. The coefficient of repeatability was 0.182 for the Pelli–Robson chart, 0.121 for the Mars chart and 0.238 for Test Chart 2000. Limits of agreement with the Pelli–Robson chart were −0.29 to +0.15 log units for the Mars letter contrast sensitivity chart and −0.32 to +0.78 log units for the Test Chart 2000. For patients with poor contrast sensitivity, the limits of agreement between the Test Chart 2000 and the Pelli–Robson chart improved from −0.33 to +0.15 log units. Conclusion: In a population of hospital ophthalmology patients, the coefficient of repeatability is better for the Mars chart and worse for the Test Chart 2000 when compared with the Pelli–Robson chart. The electronic test chart does not agree well with the Pelli–Robson chart, although this might simply be due to the performance of liquid crystal display screens at low contrast levels. The Mars letter contrast sensitivity chart shows good validity and reasonable agreement with the Pelli–Robson chart.

113 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that a patient with a small unilateral cortical lesion adjacent to human cortical area MT has an apparently permanent disorder in perceiving several forms of second-order but not first-order motion in his contralateral visual field, indicating that separate pathways for motion perception exist.
Abstract: Unlike first order motion, which is based on spatiotemporal variations in luminance, second-order motion relies on spatiotemporal variation of attributes derived from luminance, such as contrast. Here we show that a patient with a small unilateral cortical lesion adjacent to human cortical area MT (V5) has an apparently permanent disorder in perceiving several forms of second-order but not first-order motion in his contralateral visual field. This result indicates that separate pathways for motion perception exist, either as divergent pathways from area MT or even from primary visual cortex, or as separate pathways from subcortical areas to extrastriate visual areas.

113 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An adaptation method was used to determine the specificity of orientation-selective channels in the human visual system at different retinal eccentricities in both hemifields of each eye.
Abstract: An adaptation method was used to determine the specificity of orientation-selective channels in the human visual system at different retinal eccentricities (up to 16 deg) in both hemifields of each eye. For a vertical test grating, the elevation in contrast threshold produced by adapting to a high-contrast grating of the same spatial frequency but variable orientation was equated with the contrast levels of a vertical adapting grating that produced equivalent effects (equivalent-contrast transformation). This enabled comparisons to be made between the orientation tuning of the aftereffect at different retinal loci. For the spatial frequency employed (3 cycles deg-1), no systematic change in orientation selectivity was found as a function of either retinal eccentricity or the hemifield (and hence the cerebral hemisphere) stimulated.

113 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The extent to which various temporal frequencies in the response conveyed information concerning spatial frequency, orientation, and color under the steady-state conditions used in these studies was determined.
Abstract: 1. We recorded local field potentials in the parafoveal representation in the primary visual cortex of anesthetized and paralyzed macaque monkeys with a multicontact electrode that provided for sampling of neural activity at 16 sites along a vertical penetration. Differential recordings at adjacent contacts were transformed into an estimate of current source density (CSD), to provide a measure of local neural activity. 2. We used m-sequence stimuli to map the region of visual space that provided input to the recording site. The local field potential recorded in macaque V1 has a population receptive field (PRF) size of approximately 2 deg2. 3. We assessed spatial tuning by the responses to two-dimensional Gaussian noise, spatially filtered to retain power only within one octave. Responses to achromatic band-limited noise stimuli revealed a prominent band-pass spatial tuning in the upper layers, but a more low-pass spatial tuning in lower layers. 4. We assessed orientation tuning by the responses to band-limited noise whose spectrum was further restricted to lie within 45 degrees wedges. The local field potential showed evidence of orientation tuning at most sites. Orientation tuning in upper and lower layers was manifest by systematic variations not only in response size but also in response dynamics. 5. We assessed chromatic tuning by the responses to isotropic band-limited noise modulated in a variety of directions in tristimulus space. Some lower-layer locations showed a nulling of response under near-isoluminant conditions. However, response dynamics in upper and lower layers depended not only on luminance contrast, but also on chromatic inputs. 6. Responses to near-isoluminant stimuli and to low-contrast luminance modulation were shifted to lower spatial frequencies. 7. We determined the extent to which various temporal frequencies in the response conveyed information concerning spatial frequency, orientation, and color under the steady-state conditions used in these studies. In each case, information is distributed in the response dynamics across a broad temporal frequency range, beginning at 4 Hz (the lowest frequency used). For spatial frequency the information rate remains significant up to at least 25 Hz. For orientation tuning and chromatic tuning, the information rate is lower overall and remains significant up to 13 Hz. In contrast, for texture discrimination, information is shifted to lower temporal frequencies.

112 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An early, generally nonselective neuronal damage of visual pathways that occurs before the onset of clinically detectable retinopathy is suggested, which may be related directly to the effects of diabetes.
Abstract: Objective Psychophysical methods in patients with diabetes mellitus reveal deficits of central or foveal vision. Our aim was to evaluate the contrast-sensitivity thresholds in 24 insulin-dependent (type I) diabetic patients with a short disease duration and without retinopathy, taking into account metabolic control. Research Design and Methods The control group consisted of age-matched nondiabetic subjects. None had visual or systemic symptoms. Contrast sensitivity measured at eight different spatial frequencies to sinusoidal bar patterns of 0.6–12.2 cycles/deg can detect functional defects in the spatially sensitive retinal ganglion cells or in higher visual pathways. We performed two different temporal types of contrast-sensitivity testing, dynamic (8 Hz) and static (0 Hz). Results Significant losses with dynamic contrast-sensitivity test at all but the highest spatial frequencies (i.e., 12.2 cycles/deg) were shown, whereas there was significant attenuation of contrast sensitivity at five spatial frequencies (1.0, 1.4, 2.2, 7.1, and 9.6 cycles/deg) in the static mode. Grating losses ( 1c values were positively correlated at variable spatial frequencies (1.0, 1.4, and 2.2 cycles/deg for dynamic test and 0.6, 1.0, 1.4, 2.2, 4.8, and 7.1 cycles/deg for static test). Conclusions Our results suggest an early, generally nonselective neuronal damage of visual pathways that occurs before the onset of clinically detectable retinopathy. The visual deficit may be related directly to the effects of diabetes; repetitive minor hypoglycemic insults may contribute more than a marked hyperglycemic condition to the mechanisms underlying physiological changes along the optic nerve.

112 citations


Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20241
20231,864
20223,760
2021413
2020329
2019354