The Ouchi illusion: An anomaly in the perception of rigid motion for limited spatial frequencies and angles

The spatial parameters underlying a novel illusion of relative motion are characterized. A simple stimulus composed of two sine-wave gratings was sufficient to generate the illusion. We measured the response of subjects to rapid, small-amplitude oscillations of this stimulus behind a fixation point. The effect was clearly strongest for acute angles between the gratings, but only when spatial frequency was between 6 and 11 cpd. We surmise that activity in the grating cells of the primate visual cortex (von der Heydt, Peterhans, & Dursteler, 1992) might be the cause of the illusion. The illusion is potentially an important tool in understanding how higher cortical areas combine disparate motion signals.

[1]  Trevor J. Hine,et al.  An illusion of relative motion dependent upon spatial frequency and orientation , 1995, Vision Research.

[2]  Jeounghoon Kim,et al.  Dependence of plaid motion coherence on component grating directions , 1993, Vision Research.

[3]  A. A. Skavenski,et al.  Miniature eye movement. , 1973, Science.

[4]  C F Stromeyer,et al.  Edge-contingent color after effects: spatial frequency specificity. , 1972, Vision research.

[5]  E Kowler,et al.  Smooth pursuit of small-amplitude sinusoidal motion. , 1985, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[6]  N. Wade.  Distortions and Disappearances of Geometrical Patterns , 1977, Perception.

[7]  Robert Sekuler,et al.  Detection and identification of moving targets , 1983, Vision Research.

[8]  D. Mackay.  Moving visual images produced by regular stationary patterns. , 1958 .

[9]  K. D. De Valois,et al.  Higher-Order Factors Influencing the Perception of Sliding and Coherence of a Plaid , 1992, Perception.

[10]  A. Gorea,et al.  Perceptual bistability with counterphase gratings , 1984, Vision Research.

[11]  K. Nakayama,et al.  The aperture problem—I. Perception of nonrigidity and motion direction in translating sinusoidal lines , 1988, Vision Research.

[12]  L. Spillmann,et al.  Visual Perception: The Neurophysiological Foundations , 1989 .

[13]  R. von der Heydt,et al.  Periodic-pattern-selective cells in monkey visual cortex , 1992, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[14]  E. Adelson,et al.  Phenomenal coherence of moving visual patterns , 1982, Nature.

[15]  R. Klein,et al.  What are human express saccades? , 1993, Perception & psychophysics.