Zhou Zhiheng, Strother Lars
Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV,
J Vis. 2017 Feb 1;17(2):8. doi: 10.1167/17.2.8.
Stable object perception relies on persistent yet temporary neural representations under constantly fluctuating stimulus conditions. The mechanisms by which such representations are formed and maintained are not fully understood but presumably involve interplay between early and higher tier visual cortical mechanisms. Some neurophysiological models of feature binding in early visual cortex predict persistent contour perception under certain stimulus conditions. Here we show that the duration of contour persistence reflects the persistent operation of visual mechanisms sensitive to contour smoothness, which also influences contour visibility more generally under highly camouflaging stimulus conditions. We distinguish the effect of contour smoothness on contour persistence from observer bias, which also contributes to the surprisingly long duration of contour persistence. We conclude that the strong modulatory effects of contour smoothness on persistence are due to the sustained reverberation of local and global contour-binding mechanisms in visual cortex, which form an important basis of perceptual continuity and stable object perception.
稳定的物体感知依赖于在不断变化的刺激条件下持久但临时的神经表征。这种表征形成和维持的机制尚未完全理解，但大概涉及早期和高级视觉皮层机制之间的相互作用。早期视觉皮层中一些特征绑定的神经生理模型预测在某些刺激条件下会有持久的轮廓感知。在这里，我们表明轮廓持续时间反映了对轮廓平滑度敏感的视觉机制的持续运作，在高度伪装的刺激条件下，这种机制也更普遍地影响轮廓可见性。我们将轮廓平滑度对轮廓持续时间的影响与观察者偏差区分开来，观察者偏差也导致了轮廓持续时间长得惊人。我们得出结论，轮廓平滑度对持续性的强烈调节作用是由于视觉皮层中局部和全局轮廓绑定机制的持续回响，这构成了感知连续性和稳定物体感知的重要基础。
