The Effect of Removing Superior Temporal Cortical Motion Areas in the Macaque Monkey: II. Motion Discrimination Using Random Dot Displays

Nine macaque monkeys were trained to discriminate between a display in which all the dots moved randomly (visual dynamic noise) and an adjacent display in which a proportion of the dots oscillated coherently from side to side. Two monkeys in which area MT (middle temporal visual area) and adjacent regions were surgically removed were unable to perform even the simplest version of this task where the coherent motion was not masked by any visual dynamic noise. The other seven animals tolerated between 60% and 65% of random movement in the otherwise coherently oscillating display before they failed to discriminate between the two displays. In contrast, shape discrimination tasks containing luminance boundaries were unaffected by the removal of area MT. However, the removal of area MT did impair the animals' ability to use a kinetic boundary as the basis for shape discrimination. Their performance with a kinetic boundary between a moving and a stationary random dot field and a kinetic boundary between two random dot fields moving in opposite directions was the most severely impaired. Their performance with a kinetic boundary defined by two random dot fields moving orthogonally to each other was unimpaired. None of the animals from either group was able to use the kinetic boundary defined by coherent motion and visual dynamic noise as the basis for shape discrimination. The ease with which the control animals were able to employ the different types of kinetic boundaries to perform the shape discrimination reflected previously published proportions of cells in area MT that are specialized for detecting the different types of kinetic boundaries.

[1]  W. Reichardt.  Autokorrelations-Auswertung als Funktionsprinzip des Zentralnervensystems , 1957 .

[2]  G G Haydu,et al.  Perception of Apparent Motion. , 1960, Science.

[3]  H. Barlow,et al.  The mechanism of directionally selective units in rabbit's retina. , 1965, The Journal of physiology.

[4]  G. Johansson.  Visual perception of biological motion and a model for its analysis , 1973 .

[5]  O. Braddick.  A short-range process in apparent motion. , 1974, Vision research.

[6]  S. Zeki.  Uniformity and diversity of structure and function in rhesus monkey prestriate visual cortex. , 1978, The Journal of physiology.

[7]  B Rogers,et al.  Motion Parallax as an Independent Cue for Depth Perception , 1979, Perception.

[8]  S. Anstis.  The perception of apparent movement. , 1980, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[9]  M J Morgan,et al.  Analogue models of motion perception. , 1980, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[10]  P Cavanagh,et al.  Motion Aftereffect: A Global Mechanism for the Perception of Rotation , 1980, Perception.

[11]  O J Braddick,et al.  Low-level and high-level processes in apparent motion. , 1980, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[12]  S. Zeki.  The response properties of cells in the middle temporal area (area MT) of owl monkey visual cortex , 1980, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[13]  D Marr,et al.  Directional selectivity and its use in early visual processing , 1981, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[14]  Leslie G. Ungerleider.  Two cortical visual systems , 1982 .

[15]  B. Rogers,et al.  Simultaneous and Successive Contrast Effects in the Perception of Depth from Motion-Parallax and Stereoscopic Information , 1982, Perception.

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

[17]  John H. R. Maunsell,et al.  The connections of the middle temporal visual area (MT) and their relationship to a cortical hierarchy in the macaque monkey , 1983, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[18]  T. Albright.  Direction and orientation selectivity of neurons in visual area MT of the macaque. , 1984, Journal of neurophysiology.

[19]  E. Adelson,et al.  The analysis of moving visual patterns , 1985 .

[20]  W. Newsome,et al.  Deficits in visual motion processing following ibotenic acid lesions of the middle temporal visual area of the macaque monkey , 1985, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[21]  J Allman,et al.  Direction- and Velocity-Specific Responses from beyond the Classical Receptive Field in the Middle Temporal Visual Area (MT) , 1985, Perception.

[22]  J. Allman,et al.  Stimulus specific responses from beyond the classical receptive field: neurophysiological mechanisms for local-global comparisons in visual neurons. , 1985, Annual review of neuroscience.

[23]  Leslie G. Ungerleider,et al.  Multiple visual areas in the caudal superior temporal sulcus of the macaque , 1986, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[24]  Leslie G. Ungerleider,et al.  Cortical connections of visual area MT in the macaque , 1986, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[25]  H. Rodman,et al.  Coding of visual stimulus velocity in area MT of the macaque , 1987, Vision Research.

[26]  C. Koch,et al.  The analysis of visual motion: from computational theory to neuronal mechanisms. , 1986, Annual review of neuroscience.

[27]  DH Hubel,et al.  Psychophysical evidence for separate channels for the perception of form, color, movement, and depth , 1987, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[28]  D. C. Van Essen,et al.  Concurrent processing streams in monkey visual cortex , 1988, Trends in Neurosciences.

[29]  R. Wurtz,et al.  Probing visual cortical function with discrete chemical lesions , 1988, Trends in Neurosciences.

[30]  S. Shipp,et al.  The functional logic of cortical connections , 1988, Nature.

[31]  V. Perry,et al.  Ibotenic acid induced demyelination in the central nervous system: A consequence of a local inflammatory response , 1988, Neuroscience Letters.

[32]  R. M. Siegel,et al.  Perception of three-dimensional structure from motion in monkey and man , 1988, Nature.

[33]  W. Newsome,et al.  A selective impairment of motion perception following lesions of the middle temporal visual area (MT) , 1988, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[34]  S. Zeki,et al.  The Organization of Connections between Areas V5 and V2 in Macaque Monkey Visual Cortex , 1989, The European journal of neuroscience.

[35]  K. Tanaka,et al.  Underlying mechanisms of the response specificity of expansion/contraction and rotation cells in the dorsal part of the medial superior temporal area of the macaque monkey. , 1989, Journal of neurophysiology.

[36]  K. Tanaka,et al.  Analysis of motion of the visual field by direction, expansion/contraction, and rotation cells clustered in the dorsal part of the medial superior temporal area of the macaque monkey. , 1989, Journal of neurophysiology.

[37]  S. Zeki,et al.  The Organization of Connections between Areas V5 and V1 in Macaque Monkey Visual Cortex , 1989, The European journal of neuroscience.

[38]  A. Cowey,et al.  The Effect of Removing Superior Temporal Cortical Motion Areas in the Macaque Monkey: I. Motion Discrimination Using Simple Dots , 1992, The European journal of neuroscience.