Showing papers on "Foveal published in 2000"

Spatial sensitivity of macaque inferior temporal neurons

Abstract: Recent findings in dorsal visual stream areas and computational work raise the question whether neurons at the end station of the ventral visual stream can code for stimulus position. The authors provide the first detailed, quantitative data on the spatial sensitivity of neurons in the anterior part of the inferior temporal cortex (area TE) in awake, fixating monkeys. They observed a large variation in receptive field (RF) size (ranging from 2.8 degrees to 26 degrees ). TE neurons differed in their optimal position, with a bias toward the foveal position. Moreover, the RF profiles of most TE neurons could be fitted well with a two-dimensional Gaussian function. Most neurons had only one region of high sensitivity and showed a smooth decline in sensitivity toward more distal positions. In addition, the authors investigated some of the possible determinants of such spatial sensitivity. First, testing with low-pass filtered versions of the stimuli revealed that the general preference for the foveal position and the size of the RFs was not due simply to TE neurons receiving input with a lower spatial resolution at more eccentric positions. The foveal position was still preferred after intense low-pass filtering. Second, although an increase in stimulus size consistently broadened spatial sensitivity profiles, it did not change the qualitative features of these profiles. Moreover, size selectivity of TE neurons was generally position invariant. Overall, the results suggest that TE neurons can code for the position of stimuli in the central region of the visual field.

Eye movements and the span of the effective stimulus in visual search

Abstract: The span of the effective stimulus during visual search through an unstructured alphanumeric array was investigated by using eye-contingent-display changes while the subjects searched for a target letter. In one condition, a window exposing the search array moved in synchrony with the subjects’ eye movements, and the size of the window was varied. Performance reached asymptotic levels when the window was 5°. In another condition, a foveal mask moved in synchrony with each eye movement, and the size of the mask was varied. The foveal mask conditions were much more detrimental to search behavior than the window conditions, indicating the importance of foveal vision during search. The size of the array also influenced performance, but performance reached asymptote for all array sizes tested at the same window size, and the effect of the foveal mask was the same for all array sizes. The results indicate that both acuity and difficulty of the search task influenced the span of the effective stimulus during visual search.

Parafoveal processing in word recognition.

Abstract: Two experiments investigated the degree to which properties of a word presented in the parafovea influenced the time to process a word undergoing concurrent foveal inspection. In Experiment 1, subjects viewed a set of five-letter words at a fixed point, with words in parafoveal vision varying in length, word frequency, and both the type and token frequency of occurrence of their initial three letters. The results showed that the frequency of the target and the type frequency of its initial letters influenced foveal fixation time. In Experiment 2, subjects executed a sequence of saccades before initial fixation on the experimental items. Under these circumstances, fixation time was shorter overall. Lexical properties of parafoveal words had no effect on foveal processing, but the length and the type frequency of their initial letters exerted a strong influence. Parafoveal-on-foveal effects of this form are incompatible with models of reading in which attention is allocated sequentially to successive words....

Astrocytes and blood vessels define the foveal rim during primate retinal development.

Abstract: Purpose To investigate the relationship between development of the perifoveal blood vessels and formation of the foveal depression. Methods Retinal sections and flatmounts from monkeys aged between fetal day (Fd)80 and 2 years of age were double labeled using antisera to CD31 or von Willebrand factor to detect vascular endothelial cells and antiserum to glial fibrillary acidic protein to detect astrocytes. Sections were studied by fluorescence or confocal microscopy. Results From Fd88 to 115, vessels on the horizontal meridian were found only at the level of the ganglion cell layer (GCL)-inner plexiform layer (IPL) border where they form the ganglion cell layer plexus (GCP). Stellate astrocytes accompany GCP vessels and extend closer to the fovea than vessels. The foveal avascular zone was present within the GCP at Fd101, and at Fd105 a shallow foveal depression encircled by the GCP was present. The GCP foveal margin had the same dimensions as the adult foveal pit. Both blood vessels and astrocytes were excluded from the emerging fovea throughout development. After Fd140, capillary plexuses in the outer retina anastomosed with the GCP on the foveal slope to form a perifoveal plexus, but this plexus did not mature until a month or more after birth. After Fd142, astrocytes rapidly disappeared from the GCP and most of central retina. Conclusions An avascular area is outlined by the GCP before the foveal pit begins to form, suggesting that molecular factors in this region exclude both vessels and astrocytes. These factors may also guide neuronal migration to form the pit. Because the perifoveal plexus is formed during late gestation, both capillary growth and foveal development may be affected adversely by prematurity.

A foveated silicon retina for two-dimensional tracking

Abstract: A silicon retina chip with a central foveal region for smooth-pursuit tracking and a peripheral region for saccadic target acquisition is presented. The foveal region contains a 9/spl times/9 dense array of large dynamic range photoreceptors and edge detectors. Two-dimensional direction of foveal motion is computed outside the imaging array. The peripheral region contains a sparse array of 19/spl times/17 similar, but larger, photoreceptors with in-pixel edge and temporal on-set detection. The coordinates of moving or flashing targets are computed with two one-dimensional centroid localization circuits located on the outskirts of the peripheral region. The chip is operational for ambient intensities ranging over six orders of magnitude, targets contrast as low as 10%, foveal speed ranging from 1.5 to 10 K pixels/s, and peripheral ON-set frequencies from <0.1 to 800 kHz. The chip is implemented in a 2 /spl mu/m n-well CMOS process and consumes 15 mW (Vdd=4 V) in normal indoor light (25 /spl mu/W/cm/sup 2/). It has been used as a person tracker in a smart surveillance system and a road follower in an autonomous navigation system.

Control of saccade initiation in a countermanding task using visual and auditory stop signals

Abstract: We examined inhibitory control in an oculomotor countermanding task, where the primary task required a saccadic eye movement be made to a target and a less-frequent secondary task required that the movement be halted. Previous studies have used a visual stimulus presented centrally on the fovea as the signal to stop or countermand a saccade. In these previous studies, there are at least two possible sources of saccadic inhibition: (1) sensory stimulation at the fovea can elicit a bottom-up mechanism, where a visual transient signal can delay or inhibit the developing saccade command; and (2) information based on the task instruction can be used to initiate a top-down mechanism to halt the movement. In the present study, we used both visual and auditory stop signals to test the hypothesis that the bottom-up mechanism is activated only after presentation of a foveal visual stop signal. Subjects were instructed first to look at a central spot and then to look to an eccentric visual target that appeared randomly to the left or right of center. On about one-third of the trials, a stop signal was presented. Three types of stop signals were used with equal probability: a broad-band noise burst (auditory), a central fixation spot (visual), and a combination of the auditory and visual stimuli (combined). Saccadic reaction time and stop-signal accuracy were used to calculate stop signal reaction time (SSRT), an estimate of the time required to inhibit the eye movement. Mean SSRT was longer for the auditory stop signals (201 ms) than for the signals with a foveal visual component (visual 113 ms; combined 91 ms). We conclude that a foveal visual stop signal in an oculomotor countermanding task changes the measure of inhibitory control to reflect not only inhibitory processes but also the sensory information afforded by stimulation at the fovea.

Senescence of foveal and parafoveal cone sensitivities and their relations to macular pigment density.

Abstract: Foveal and parafoveal increment thresholds were measured for 50 observers (12-88 years of age) under conditions that isolated retinal mechanisms dominated by short- (S-), middle- (M-), or long- (L-) wave-sensitive cones. Thresholds were obtained on the plateau of the threshold-versus-intensity function of each isolated mechanism and were referred to the retina by using individual measurements of ocular media and macular pigment density. Age-related increases in foveal thresholds, specified at the retina, were found for all three cone mechanisms. Parallel sensitivity losses for each cone mechanism were also observed at 4 degrees and 8 degrees in the temporal retina. A significant positive correlation was found between foveal macular pigment density and the S-cone, but not the M- and L-cone, log sensitivity difference (0 degrees-8 degrees) specified at the retina. This relation is expected from the hypothesis that the macular pigment protects the photoreceptors from senescent losses in sensitivity. However, because this result is independent of age, it is interpreted as being due to local gain changes resulting from differential filtering of incident light by the macular pigment between the fovea and the parafovea.

Conservation of absolute foveal area in New World monkeys. A constraint on eye size and conformation.

Abstract: The foveal specializations of five New World monkeys, the marmoset, Callithrix jacchus; the golden-handed tamarin, Saguinus midas niger; the squirrel monkey, Saimiri ustius; the capuchin monkey, Cebus apella; and the howler monkey, Alouatta caraya were compared. Although retinal area varies by over a factor of two in these monkeys, the area of the fovea does not covary with retinal area and remains approximately the same absolute size, as measured by the dimensions of the high density region of cones, or the rod-free region. This constancy in foveal size also holds for rhesus monkeys and humans, bringing the variation in retinal area to a factor of five. Alouatta caraya is unusual, distinguished by a very high central cone density and a small rod-free zone. Physiological constraints that might limit foveal area over a wide range of eye sizes are considered.

Projection of rods and cones within human visual cortex

Abstract: There are two basic types of photoreceptors in the retina: rods and cones. Using a single stimulus viewed at two different light levels, we tested whether input from rods and input from cones are topographically segregated at subsequent levels of human visual cortex. Here we show that rod-mediated visual input produces robust activation in area MT1, and in the peripheral representations of multiple retinotopic areas. However, such activation was selectively absent in: (1) a cortical area selectively activated by colored stimuli (V8) and (2) the foveal representations of lower tier retinotopic areas. These cortical differences reflect corresponding differences in perception between scotopic and photopic conditions. Hum. Brain Mapping 9:55-63, 2000. r 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Portable eyetracking: a study of natural eye movements

Abstract: Visual perception, operating below conscious awareness, effortlessly provides the experience of a rich representation of the environment, continuous in space and time. Conscious visual perception is made possible by the 'foveal compromise,' the combination of the high-acuity fovea and a sophisticated suite of eye movements. Our illusory visual experience cannot be understood by introspection, but monitoring eye movements lets us probe the processes of visual perception. Four tasks representing a wide range of complexity were used to explore visual perception; image quality judgments, map reading, model building, and hand-washing. Very short fixation durations were observed in all tasks, some as short as 33 msec. While some tasks showed little variation in eye movement metrics, differences in eye movement patterns and high-level strategies were observed in the model building and hand washing tasks. Performance in the hand washing task revealed a new type of eye movement. 'Planful' eye movements were made to objects well in advance of a subject's interaction with the object. Often occurring in the middle of another task, they provide 'overlapping' temporal information about the environment providing a mechanism to produce our conscious visual experience.

Contour interaction in fovea and periphery

Abstract: It has been known for some time that both foveal and peripheral visual acuity are higher for single letters than for letters in a row. Early work showed that this was due to the destructive interaction of adjacent contours (termed contour interaction). It has been assumed to have a neural basis, and a number of competing explanations have been advanced that implicate either high-level or low-level stages of visual processing. Our previous results for foveal vision suggested a much simpler explanation, one determined primarily by the physics of the stimulus rather than the physiology of the visual system. We show that, under conditions of contour interaction or crowding, the most relevant physical spatial-frequency band of the letter is displaced to higher spatial frequencies and that foveal vision tracks this change in spatial scale. In the periphery, however, beyond 5°, the physical explanation is not sufficient. Here we show that there are genuine physiological lateral spatial interactions, which are due to changes in the spatial scale of analysis.

Binocular summation in the fovea and peripheral field of anisometropic amblyopes.

Abstract: Purpose. Binocular performance in the central and peripheral visual fields was compared for normal and anisometropic amblyopes. Methods. Binocular and monocular thresholds to a light detection task were measured along the four principal meridia in 10 young normal subjects and 10 anisometropic amblyopes using the Humphrey's Visual Field Analyser. Thresholds were obtained at the fovea and at retinal eccentricities of 5o, 10o, 15o, 25o, 40o and 55o on the horizontal, vertical and oblique meridia of 45o and 135o. Results. Binocular summation ratios (binocular sensitivity/ 'best' monocular sensitivity) were calculated for all the eccentricities. In the normal group, the mean binocular summation ratio for the fovea and the peripheral field was not significantly different. In the amblyopic group, subjects showed no or minimal binocular summation in the foveal region but reached normal ratios in the periphery. Discussion. Results are discussed in terms of tolerance to interocular sensitivity differences in the pe...

Attentional Demands on the Processing of Neighbouring Words

Abstract: In this chapter we describe two eye-tracking experiments that were conducted to investigate how foveal and parafoveal information is used in eye movement control. Characteristics of neighbouring words were manipulated and interference effects resulting from increases in processing difficulty were observed. Findings from these experiments suggest that neighbouring interference effects are bi-directional, with increases in processing difficulty leading to a disruption of both the currently fixated and the next-to-be fixated word. These findings are discussed with reference to current attention-based models of eye movement control and it is suggested that our data offer support to parallel attention-based but not to sequential attention-based models of eye guidance.

EMS-Vision: a perceptual system for autonomous vehicles

Abstract: A survey is given of an expectation-based multifocal saccadic vision (EMS-Vision) system. EMS-Vision is the 3rd generation dynamic vision system for road vehicle guidance following the 4D approach. It combines a wide field of view (f.o.v.) nearby (>100/spl deg/, L/sub 0.05/=36 m, peripheral part) with central areas of high resolution: a 3-chip-color-camera with a f.o.v. of 23/spl deg/ (L/sub 0.05/=100 m) and a high sensitivity b/w-camera with a f.o.v. of 5.5/spl deg/ (L/sub 0.05/=300 m, foveal part). At L/sub 0.05/ a single pixel in the image corresponds to 5 cm in the real world. By active gaze control, this foveal cone can be inertially stabilized, be redirected to a point of interest in the wide f.o.v. (saccade), and locked onto a moving object for reducing motion blur (fixation). This vertebrate type of vision system allows new performance levels in machine vision. The system has been implemented on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components in test vehicles.

Scale-invariant superiority of foveal vision in perceptual categorization.

Abstract: The recognition of objects is exceedingly difficult in indirect view. This complication cannot be explained in terms of retino-cortical magnification, as size scaling fails to establish position invariance both for character recognition [Strasburger, H. & Rentschler, I. (1996) Eur. J. Neurosci., 8 1787-1791] and pattern classification [Juttner, M. & Rentschler, I. (1996) Vision Res., 36, 1007-1021]. Thus we compared, for two tasks of discrimination learning and category learning with respect to a common set of grey-level patterns, how humans perform in foveal and extrafoveal vision. Observers learnt to discriminate (size-scaled) images equally well in foveal and extrafoveal view, whereas they displayed profound deficiencies in extrafoveal category learning for the same patterns. From the behavioural learning data, internal representations of the learning signals were reconstructed by means of computer simulations. For foveal view, these representations were found to be veridical to their physical counterparts for both learning tasks. For extrafoveal view, they were severely distorted for category learning but not for discrimination learning. A variance reduction of the pattern classes by a factor of 100 reduced the dissociation between extrafoveal categorization and discrimination but did not remove it. These observations suggest a scale-invariant superiority of foveal vision for learning object categories. This implies a high degree of space variance of visual cognition which is vastly underestimated by classical measures of visual performance, e.g. acuity, visual field and contrast sensitivity.

Retinal image motion during deliberate fixation: implications to laser safety for long duration viewing.

Abstract: With the easy attainability of hand-held laser devices and the burgeoning light emitting diode (LED) technology, safety standards for long-term viewing of continuous light sources are being scrutinized. One concern is with quantifying the effect of head and eye movements on the distribution of energy over the retina. This experiment describes target motion over the retina as a result of head and eye movements during a deliberate fixation task. Volunteers deliberately fixated, with (fettered) and without (unfettered) head and chin rest support, on LEDs that subtended a 0.1 min of arc visual angle. A Dual Purkinje Image Eyetracker measured eye position during each 100-s fixation trial. The data showed an elliptical retinal energy distribution, oriented on the temporal/ nasal retinal axis, with a major axis 1.5 times greater than the minor. The average half-maximum diameter for the major axis was 40 microm for the fettered and 107 microm for the unfettered condition. The retinal area illuminated from head and eye movements showed a positive linear relationship with time. Peak retinal radiant exposure at 100 s was reduced by a factor of 10 as a result of eye movements and by a factor of 30 as a result of head and eye movements. Although the net result was a reduction in radiant exposure from a "no-movement" baseline, the distribution of energy over the retina was well within the 200 microm foveal boundary. The data suggest that the laser permissible exposure limits for long term viewing of a small continuous wave source include a factor that adjusts for this reduction in retinal radiant exposure with time.

Control of a Camera for Active Vision: Foveal Vision, Smooth Tracking and Saccade

Abstract: Several characteristics of the human oculomotor system have been suggested to be useful also for active vision mechanisms. Among others, foveal vision and a tracking scheme based on two different modes, called smooth pursuit and saccade have often been postulated or implemented. The purpose of this paper is to formulate a setup in which the benefit of implementing these schemes can be evaluated in a systematic manner, based on control considerations but incorporating image processing constraints. First, the advantage of using foveal vision is evaluated by computing the size of the foveal window which will allow tracking of the largest possible class of signals. By using linear optimal control theory, this problem can be formulated as a one-variable maximization. Second, foveal vision leads naturally to smooth pursuit, defined as the performance that can be achieved by the controller resulting in the optimal size of the foveal window. This controller is relatively simple (i.e., linear, time-invariant) as is to be expected for this control loop. Finally, when smooth pursuit fails a corrective action must be performed to re-center the target on the fovea. Recent results in linear optimal control, provide the necessary tools for addressing this challenging problem in a systematic manner.

Foveal relocation by redistribution of the neurosensory retina

Abstract: AIM—To describe a new surgical technique for foveal relocation, and to report the outcome in nine patients treated with this procedure. METHODS—Nine consecutive patients with subfoveal choroidal neovascular membranes (CNVMs) secondary to age related macular degeneration underwent foveal relocation surgery by redistribution of the neurosensory retina (RNR). The technique involved induction of a retinal detachment via a single retinotomy, relocation of the fovea by "sweeping" the retinal tissue with a retinal brush, and stabilisation of the retina in its new location using perfluorocarbon liquid peroperatively and silicone oil postoperatively. RESULTS—In eight of nine eyes successful relocation of the fovea was achieved; in one eye the CNVM remained in a subfoveal location postoperatively. Visual acuity improved in two eyes, remained unchanged in three, and decreased in four eyes after a median follow up of 4 months (range 2.5-6 months). Complications included rupture of a foveal cyst with the development of a macular hole in one eye and epimacular membrane formation in another eye. In two eyes, macular retinal vessel closure occurred at the time of laser photocoagulation; one of these eyes later developed cystoid macular oedema and the other an epiretinal membrane. Recurrence of the CNVM was observed in one eye, but was controlled with further laser treatment. CONCLUSIONS—Foveal relocation by RNR appears to be feasible, obviating the need for extensive retinotomies or scleral shortening.

Scanning laser ophthalmoscope correlations with biomicroscopic findings and foveal function after macular hole closure.

Abstract: Objective To investigate the relation between foveal findings and visual function in eyes with a resolved idiopathic macular hole after vitreous surgery. Methods We divided 28 eyes with postoperative idiopathic macular hole resolution into 3 groups based on postoperative biomicroscopic foveal findings of complete closure, partial closure, or atrophic closure. To evaluate foveal retinal function, scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) microperimetry was performed preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. Results Postoperatively in 18 eyes (64%), the foveal images became normal or almost normal and were classified as having complete closure, 6 eyes (21%) were classified as having partial closure, and 4 eyes (14%) as having atrophic closure. The corresponding visual acuity levels 6 months postoperatively were, respectively, 0.10, 0.35, and 0.64 ( P Conclusions After macular hole closure, SLO findings correlate both with biomicroscopic findings and foveal function. Better anatomical foveal recovery in eyes after macular hole closure results in better improvement of vision than in eyes in which the foveal anatomical findings are not as good.

Integration of foveal orientation signals: distinct local and long-range spatial domains.

Abstract: Human observers can discriminate the orientation of a stimulus configuration composed of a pair of collinear visual patterns much better than that of a single component pattern alone. Previous inve...

Face Recognition Using Foveal Vision

Abstract: Data from human subjects recorded by an eyetracker while they are learning new faces shows a high degree of similarity in saccadic eye movements over a face Such experiments suggest face recognition can be modeled as a sequential process, with each fixation providing observations using both foveal and parafoveal information We describe a sequential model of face recognition that is incremental and scalable to large face images Two approaches to implementing an artificial fovea are described, which transform a constant resolution image into a variable resolution image with acute resolution in the fovea, and an exponential decrease in resolution towards the periphery For each individual in a database of faces, a hidden-Markov model (HMM) classifier is learned, where the observation sequences necessary to learn the HMMs are generated by fixating on different regions of a face Detailed experimental results are provided which show the two foveal HMM classifiers outperform a more traditional HMM classifier built by moving a horizontal window from top to bottom on a highly subsampled face image

An active contour model for the automatic detection of the fovea in fluorescein angiographies

Abstract: Fovea segmentation in fluorescein angiographies is a fundamental first task in any study of ocular diseases. The importance of fovea detection is due to the fact that the nearer the centre of the fovea a lesion is, the graver this lesion is. The proposed method is based on B-snakes and uses a greedy algorithm to minimise an appropriate energy which accurately leads to a convenient characterisation of the boundary of the foveal zone. The first initialisation step, which consists of finding the most appropriate local minimum along with a procedure to construct an initial contour involving a region growing algorithm, leads to a convenient and robust initialisation of the proposed active contour model.

Target tracking with an attentive foveal sensor

Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of tracking a moving target using measurements taken by a foveal sensor; i.e., a sensor having a foveal region of high acuity surrounded by a periphery in which the acuity of measurements is much less. As in human vision, the foveal region is assumed to be movable and the algorithms developed attempt to exploit it by keeping the target within the foveal region as much as possible. When tracking a target whose motion is modeled by the state of a linear system driven by white gaussian noise, an approach for management of the foveal sensor motion is demonstrated that allows the foveal sensor to always outperform a sensor having no fovea (i.e., all periphery) and to approach the performance of a sensor having no periphery (i.e., all fovea) in some cases.

Chromatic contrast sensitivity: the role of absolute threshold and gain constant in differences between the fovea and the periphery

Abstract: A model of foveal achromatic and chromatic sensitivity [Vision Res. 36, 1597 (1996)] was extended to the peripheral visual field. Threshold-versus-illuminance functions were analyzed to determine effects of eccentricity on absolute thresholds and gain constants of chromatic and luminance mechanisms. The resulting peripheral model successfully predicted peripheral contrast sensitivity as a function of wavelength, for both white and 500-nm backgrounds. We conclude that the short-wavelength-sensitive cone opponent mechanism may mediate thresholds in Sloan's notch in the normal periphery and that interpretation of reduced chromatic sensitivity in the periphery requires an explicit model of how eccentricity affects both the gain constant and the absolute threshold.