Pooling of first-order inputs in second-order vision

The processing of texture patterns has been characterized by a model that first filters the image to isolate one texture component, then applies a rectifying nonlinearity that converts texture variation into intensity variation, and finally processes the resulting pattern with mechanisms similar to those used in processing luminance-defined images (spatial-frequency- and orientation-tuned filters). This model, known as FRF for filter rectify filter, has the appeal of explaining sensitivity to second-order patterns in terms of mechanisms known to exist for processing first-order patterns. This model implies an unexpected interaction between the first and second stages of filtering; if the first-stage filter consists of narrowband mechanisms tuned to detect the carrier texture, then sensitivity to high-frequency texture modulations should be much lower than is observed in humans. We propose that the human visual system must pool over first-order channels tuned to a wide range of spatial frequencies and orientations to achieve texture demodulation, and provide psychophysical evidence for pooling in a cross-carrier adaptation experiment and in an experiment that measures modulation contrast sensitivity at very low first-order contrast.

[1]  L. Maloney.  Confidence intervals for the parameters of psychometric functions , 1990, Perception & psychophysics.

[2]  F. Kingdom,et al.  Luminance spatial frequency differences facilitate the segmentation of superimposed textures , 2000, Vision Research.

[3]  S. Dakin,et al.  Sensitivity to contrast modulation depends on carrier spatial frequency and orientation , 2000, Vision Research.

[4]  L. E. Hallum,et al.  Human primary visual cortex (V1) is selective for second-order spatial frequency. , 2011, Journal of neurophysiology.

[5]  Michael S. Landy,et al.  Exogenous attention enhances 2nd-order contrast sensitivity , 2011, Vision Research.

[6]  D. Fitzpatrick.  Seeing beyond the receptive field in primary visual cortex , 2000, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[7]  D G Pelli,et al.  Uncertainty explains many aspects of visual contrast detection and discrimination. , 1985, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[8]  J. J. Koenderink,et al.  Contrast detection and detection of contrast modulation for noise gratings , 1985, Vision Research.

[9]  H. Barlow,et al.  Human contrast discrimination and the threshold of cortical neurons. , 1987, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[10]  J. M. Foley,et al.  Contrast masking in human vision. , 1980, Journal of the Optical Society of America.

[11]  M. Landy,et al.  Orientation-selective adaptation to first- and second-order patterns in human visual cortex. , 2006, Journal of neurophysiology.

[12]  D Regan,et al.  Orientation-tuned spatial filters for texture-defined form , 1998, Vision Research.

[13]  M. Georgeson,et al.  Does early non-linearity account for second-order motion? , 1999, Vision Research.

[14]  I. Motoyoshi,et al.  Cross-orientation summation in texture segregation , 2004, Vision Research.

[15]  I. Ohzawa,et al.  Surround suppression of V1 neurons mediates orientation-based representation of high-order visual features. , 2009, Journal of neurophysiology.

[16]  M. Georgeson,et al.  Sensitivity to contrast modulation: the spatial frequency dependence of second-order vision , 2003, Vision Research.

[17]  Frederick A. A. Kingdom,et al.  Orientation- and frequency-modulated textures at low depths of modulation are processed by off-orientation and off-frequency texture mechanisms , 2010 .

[18]  C. F. Stromeyer,et al.  Low spatial-frequency channels in human vision: Adaptation and masking , 1982, Vision Research.

[19]  Frederick A. A. Kingdom,et al.  PII: S0042-6989(98)00217-X , 1998 .

[20]  M. Georgeson,et al.  Sensitivity to modulations of luminance and contrast in visual white noise: separate mechanisms with similar behaviour , 1999, Vision Research.

[21]  M. Landy,et al.  Properties of second-order spatial frequency channels , 2002, Vision Research.

[22]  F. Kingdom,et al.  Sensitivity to orientation modulation in micropattern-based textures , 1995, Vision Research.

[23]  C. Blakemore,et al.  Orientation Specificity and Spatial Selectivity in Human Vision , 1973, Perception.

[24]  Adam N. Sanborn,et al.  Optimal decisions for contrast discrimination. , 2011, Journal of vision.

[25]  Michael S. Landy,et al.  Inconsistent channel bandwidth estimates suggest winner-take-all nonlinearity in second-order vision , 2013, Vision Research.

[26]  Barry B. Lee,et al.  Temporal frequency and chromatic processing in humans: an fMRI study of the cortical visual areas. , 2011, Journal of vision.

[27]  David J. Fleet,et al.  Linear filtering precedes nonlinear processing in early vision , 1996, Current Biology.

[28]  R. Snowden,et al.  Spatial frequency adaptation: Threshold elevation and perceived contrast , 1996, Vision Research.

[29]  J. Solomon.  The history of dipper functions , 2009, Attention, perception & psychophysics.

[30]  ILONA KOVÁCS,et al.  Non-Fourier Information in Bandpass Noise Patterns , 1997, Vision Research.

[31]  N. Graham.  Non-linearities in texture segregation. , 1994, Ciba Foundation symposium.

[32]  R. Shapley,et al.  Contrast's effect on spatial summation by macaque V1 neurons , 1999, Nature Neuroscience.

[33]  J. Bergen,et al.  Computational Modeling of Visual Texture Segregation , 1991 .

[34]  G Westheimer,et al.  Dynamics of spatial summation in primary visual cortex of alert monkeys. , 1999, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[35]  C Blakemore,et al.  On the existence of neurones in the human visual system selectively sensitive to the orientation and size of retinal images , 1969, The Journal of physiology.

[36]  G. Sperling,et al.  Measuring the spatial frequency selectivity of second-order texture mechanisms , 1995, Vision Research.

[37]  Frederick A A Kingdom,et al.  Direct Evidence for the Existence of Energy-Based Texture Mechanisms , 2006, Perception.

[38]  D. M. Green,et al.  Signal detection theory and psychophysics , 1966 .

[39]  N. Graham,et al.  Spatial-frequency- and orientation-selectivity of simple and complex channels in region segregation , 1993, Vision Research.