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A new transparent motion aftereffect

Nature Neuroscience volume 2, pages 595–596 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

We report a visual motion aftereffect (MAE) that reveals simultaneous adaptation in independent motion channels coding for 'slow' or for 'fast' velocities. Dynamic random noise test patterns with low refresh frequencies or static test patterns can be used to test for MAEs mediated by slow channel adaptation, whereas MAEs produced by fast channel adaptation may be detected with noise patterns refreshed at high rates. After adaptation to transparent motion containing both a slow and a fast component, test patterns containing both high and low refresh frequencies produce a transparent, two-component MAE, revealing two distinct channels.

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Figure 1: MAE direction as a function of test pattern refresh frequency in the 'mixed' condition (three observers).
Figure 2: MAE directions for the different test patterns in the 'mixed' condition (three observers).
Figure 3: The MAE duration of each of the test components (static or dynamic) pooled across three observers as a function of the contrast ratio between the static and dynamic test components.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Alais, C. Hofstra and R. van Wezel for their comments. M.S. is supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. F.V. is a Research Fellow of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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Author notes

  1. Maarten J. van der Smagt

    Present address: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, 92037, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Comparative Physiology and Helmholtz Research Institute, Universiteit Utrecht, Padualaan 8, CH, NL-3584, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Maarten J. van der Smagt, Frans A. J. Verstraten & Wim A. van de Grind

  2. Department 5, ATR Human Information Processing Labs, 2-2, Hikaridai, 619-0288, Kyoto, Japan

    Frans A. J. Verstraten

Authors
  1. Maarten J. van der Smagt
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  2. Frans A. J. Verstraten
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  3. Wim A. van de Grind
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Correspondence to Maarten J. van der Smagt.

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van der Smagt, M., Verstraten, F. & van de Grind, W. A new transparent motion aftereffect. Nat Neurosci 2, 595–596 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/10150

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