Department for Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany
Department for Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
eNeuro. 2024 Mar 26;11(3). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0519-23.2024. Print 2024 Mar.
Keeping track of multiple visually identical and independently moving objects is a remarkable feature of the human visual system. Theoretical accounts for this ability focus on resource-based models that describe parametric decreases of performance with increasing demands during the task (i.e., more relevant items, closer distances, higher speed). Additionally, the presence of two central tracking resources, one within each hemisphere, has been proposed, allowing for an independent maintenance of moving targets within each visual hemifield. Behavioral evidence in favor of such a model shows that human subjects are able to track almost twice as many targets across both hemifields compared with within one hemifield. A number of recent publications argue for two separate and parallel tracking mechanisms during standard object tracking tasks that allow for the maintenance of the relevant information in a location-based and object-based manner. Unique electrophysiological correlates for each of those processes have been identified. The current study shows that these electrophysiological components are differentially present during tracking within either the left or right hemifield. The present results suggest that targets are mostly maintained as an object-based representation during left hemifield tracking, while location-based resources are preferentially engaged during right hemifield tracking. Interestingly, the manner of representation does not seem to have an impact on behavioral performance within the subjects, while the electrophysiological component indicating object-based tracking does correlate with performance between subjects. We propose that hemifield independence during multiple-object tracking may be an indication of the underlying hemispheric bias for parallel location-based and object-based tracking mechanisms.
同时追踪多个在外观上完全相同且独立移动的物体是人类视觉系统的一项显著特征。理论解释主要集中在基于资源的模型上,这些模型描述了随着任务需求的增加(即更多相关项目、更近的距离、更高的速度),性能会呈参数下降的趋势。此外,有人提出存在两个中央追踪资源,每个半球各一个,这允许在每个视觉半视野中独立维护移动目标。支持这种模型的行为证据表明,与在一个半视野中相比,人类受试者能够在两个半视野中追踪几乎两倍数量的目标。最近的一些出版物认为,在标准物体追踪任务中存在两个独立且平行的追踪机制,允许以基于位置和基于物体的方式维护相关信息。已经确定了每个过程的独特的电生理相关性。本研究表明,这些电生理成分在左或右半视野内的追踪过程中存在差异。目前的结果表明,在左半视野追踪过程中,目标主要以基于物体的表示形式维持,而在右半视野追踪过程中,基于位置的资源则优先参与。有趣的是,这种表示方式似乎不会对受试者内的行为表现产生影响,而指示基于物体的追踪的电生理成分与受试者间的表现相关。我们提出,在多目标追踪中,半视野独立性可能是对基于半球的平行基于位置和基于物体的追踪机制的潜在偏向的指示。