Binocular summation for grating detection and resolution in foveal and peripheral vision

Peripheral monocular grating resolution has been shown to be limited by the sampling density of the underlying retinal ganglion cells. We wanted to determine if peripheral resolution is also sampling limited binocularly; and, if so, how great is any improvement in either detection or resolution when viewing binocularly? We measured detection and resolution acuity for sinusoidal gratings in foveal and peripheral vision both monocularly and binocularly. Detection and resolution acuity were very similar in foveal vision and displayed a binocular improvement of 5% over best monocular acuity. However, in peripheral vision, while detection acuity improved by 6% binocularly, resolution acuity improved by 16%, with a subsequently smaller aliasing zone. This improvement was greater than predicted by probability summation and implies that the two monocular ganglion cell sampling arrays combine at a higher level resulting in a higher binocular sampling density.

[1]  D. G. Green,et al.  Monocular versus Binocular Visual Acuity , 1965, Nature.

[2]  A Bradley,et al.  Effects of refractive error on detection acuity and resolution acuity in peripheral vision. , 1997, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[3]  L N Thibos,et al.  Psychophysical Localization of the Human Visual Streak , 1992, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[4]  L Frisén,et al.  Binocular summation in humans: evidence for a hierarchic model. , 1988, The Journal of physiology.

[5]  R. Anderson,et al.  Aliasing in peripheral vision for flickering gratings under different levels of illumination , 2000 .

[6]  David R. Williams,et al.  Off-axis optical quality and retinal sampling in the human eye , 1996, Vision Research.

[7]  L. Thibos,et al.  Retinal limits to the detection and resolution of gratings. , 1987, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[8]  C. Curcio,et al.  Topography of ganglion cells in human retina , 1990, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[9]  Gordon E. Legge,et al.  Binocular contrast summation—I. Detection and discrimination , 1984, Vision Research.

[10]  Ralph D. Freeman,et al.  Binocular summation in orientation discrimination depends on stimulus contrast and duration , 1994, Vision Research.

[11]  S Pardhan,et al.  BINOCULAR CONTRAST DETECTION WITH UNEQUAL MONOCULAR ILLUMINANCE * , 1987, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[12]  F. W. Weymouth.  Visual sensory units and the minimal angle of resolution. , 1958, American journal of ophthalmology.

[13]  D. Williams,et al.  Cone spacing and the visual resolution limit. , 1987, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[14]  Jacob Nachmias,et al.  On the psychometric function for contrast detection , 1981, Vision Research.

[15]  D M Levi,et al.  Binocular summation in vernier acuity. , 1991, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[16]  A. Bradley,et al.  Characterization of spatial aliasing and contrast sensitivity in peripheral vision , 1996, Vision Research.

[17]  Brian H. Tsou,et al.  Grating and flicker sensitivity in the near and far periphery: Naso-temporal asymmetries and binocular summation , 1994, Vision Research.

[18]  D. Dacey.  The mosaic of midget ganglion cells in the human retina , 1993, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[19]  R. Anderson,et al.  Aliasing in peripheral vision for counterphase gratings. , 1996, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[20]  D. G. Green.  Regional variations in the visual acuity for interference fringes on the retina , 1970, The Journal of physiology.

[21]  R A Smith,et al.  Aliasing in the parafovea with incoherent light. , 1987, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[22]  David R. S Immons.  PII: S0042-6989(97)00272-1 , 2003 .

[23]  L. N. Thibos,et al.  Vision beyond the resolution limit: Aliasing in the periphery , 1987, Vision Research.

[24]  J. Wood,et al.  Regional variations in binocular summation across the visual field , 1992, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[25]  Chris A. Johnson,et al.  Effect of dioptrics on peripheral visual acuity , 1975, Vision Research.

[26]  D. Williams,et al.  Visibility of interference fringes near the resolution limit. , 1985, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[27]  Stephen J. Anderson,et al.  Post-receptoral undersampling in normal human peripheral vision , 1990, Vision Research.

[28]  S Pardhan,et al.  Binocular summation in the fovea and peripheral field of anisometropic amblyopes , 2000, Current eye research.

[29]  N. Drasdo,et al.  Parvocellular neurons limit motion acuity in human peripheral vision , 1995, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[30]  F. Campbell,et al.  Optical quality of the human eye , 1966, The Journal of physiology.

[31]  Ian P. Howard,et al.  Binocular masking and transfer , 1996 .

[32]  S. Pardhan.  A comparison of binocular summation in young and older patients. , 1996, Current eye research.