Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Elite School of Optometry, Medical Research Foundation, Chennai, India.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2023 May 1;64(5):14. doi: 10.1167/iovs.64.5.14.
Center-surround contrast suppression-typically induced when a center pattern is surrounded by another pattern with similar spatial features-is considered a perceptual analogue of center-surround neurophysiology in the visual system. Surround suppression strength is altered in a range of brain conditions affecting young people (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, migraine) and is modulated by various neurotransmitters. The early teen years are associated with neurotransmitter changes in the human visual cortex, which could impact on excitation-inhibition balance and center-surround antagonistic effects. Hence, we predict that early adolescence is associated with perceptual changes in center-surround suppression.
In this cross-sectional study, we tested 196 students at every age from 10 to 17 years and 30 adults (aged 21-34 years) to capture the preteen, adolescent, and adult periods. Contrast discrimination thresholds were measured for a central, circular, vertical sinusoidal grating pattern (0.67° radius, 2 cyc/deg spatial frequency, 2 deg/s drift rate) with and without the surround (4° radius, otherwise same spatial properties as the center). Individual suppression strength was determined by comparing the perceived contrast of the target with and without the surround.
After excluding unreliable data (7% of total), we found an effect of age on perceptual center-surround contrast suppression strength, F(8,201) = 2.30, P = 0.02, with weaker suppression in the youngest adolescents relative to adults (Bonferroni pairwise comparisons between adults vs 12-year-olds P = 0.01; adults vs 13-year-olds P = 0.002).
Our data demonstrate different center-surround interactions in the visual system-a key building block for visual perception-in early adolescence relative to adulthood.
中心-周围对比抑制——通常在中心图案被具有相似空间特征的另一个图案环绕时产生——被认为是视觉系统中中心-周围神经生理学的知觉类似物。在影响年轻人的一系列大脑状况（例如精神分裂症、抑郁症、偏头痛）中，周围抑制强度会发生变化，并且受到各种神经递质的调节。青少年早期与人类视觉皮层中的神经递质变化有关，这可能会影响兴奋-抑制平衡和中心-周围拮抗作用。因此，我们预测青少年早期与中心-周围抑制的知觉变化有关。
在这项横断面研究中，我们测试了 196 名年龄在 10 至 17 岁的学生和 30 名成年人（年龄在 21 至 34 岁之间），以捕捉青春期前、青春期和成年期。使用中央、圆形、垂直正弦光栅图案（半径为 0.67°，空间频率为 2 周/度，漂移速度为 2 度/秒）和不带周围的图案（半径为 4°，其他空间属性与中心相同）测量对比度辨别阈值。通过比较目标的感知对比度与有无周围环境的对比度来确定个体抑制强度。
在排除不可靠数据（占总数的 7%）后，我们发现年龄对知觉中心-周围对比抑制强度有影响，F(8,201)=2.30，P=0.02，与成年人相比，最年轻的青少年抑制作用较弱（成年人与 12 岁青少年之间的 Bonferroni 两两比较，P=0.01；成年人与 13 岁青少年之间的 P=0.002）。
我们的数据表明，与成年期相比，在青少年早期，视觉系统中的中心-周围相互作用不同——这是视觉感知的关键构建块。
Zotero 插件
