Fredericksen R E, Verstraten F A, van de Grind W A
Utrecht Biophysics Research Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
Vision Res. 1994 Dec;34(23):3171-88. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(94)90082-5.
The combination of visual motion information over visual space (spatial summation) and stimulus duration (temporal integration) was investigated using a random-pixel array (spatiotemporally broad-band) apparent motion stimulus designed to isolate specific populations of visual motion detectors. The results indicate that, in agreement with results from spatiotemporally narrow-band stimuli, spatial summation follows the form of linear probabilistic summation rather than non-linear probabilistic summation. Linear probabilistic summation holds for a wide range of stimulus parameters and when changing either motion stimulus height or width. Linear probabilistic summation breaks down when the motion display region approaches a height and/or width that is related to the spatial displacement size, not the speed, of the random-pixel array. This height and width (termed the critical height and width, or critical dimension), increases with spatial displacement size and can be interpreted as a measure of the basic dimensions of the selected motion detector population's receptive field. The critical height is smaller than the critical width, a result that is consistent with a motion detector receptive field that is elongated in the direction of motion. Perhaps most importantly, the mechanisms of temporal integration and spatial summation can work independently under a wide range of conditions. Finally, the results provide evidence for a short-term inhibitory phenomenon from the edges of the useful display area that affects the visibility of the motion.
