Human Visual Ecology and Orientation Anisotropies in Acuity

The visual environment of Cree Indians from the east coast of James Bay, Quebec, is different from that of city-raised Euro-Canadians. So also are their corresponding orientation anisotropies in visual acuity. A Euro-Canadian sample exhibited the usual higher resolution for vertically and horizontally oriented gratings as compared with oblique orientations, while a Cree Indian sample did not. The most parsimonious explanation of these acuity differences is that orientation-specific detectors in humans are tuned by the early visual environment.