1. The psychophysical technique of selective adaptation to stationary sine-wave gratings of varying spatial frequency and orientation was used to investigate the central processing of spatial information in the visual system of the complete achromat. 2. For adapting spatial frequencies of 1 and 2 cycles/deg, the spatial frequency and orientation selectivity of contrast threshold elevation is si...

In the human brain, the inferior temporal cortex contains areas that seem to respond selectively to particular types of visual stimuli, such as faces or animals. One such region—the parahippocampal place area, or PPA—responds most strongly to images of places instead of faces, but how this higher-order selectivity is achieved remains unclear. In a new study in PLoS Biology, Rajimehr et al. iden...

This control-matched comparative study evaluated changes in contrast sensitivity after Zyoptix tissue-saving (TS) LASIK and Planoscan standard LASIK (Technolas 217z, Bausch & Lomb) for myopia 6 months postoperatively. 102 TS LASIK-treated eyes were matched with 102 standard LASIK-treated eyes (divided into low, moderate, and high groups). There were no significant differences in refraction outc...

Objectives. Sensitivity to spatial frequencies changes with age and this may have profound effects on reading. But how the actual contributions to reading performance made by the spatial frequency content of text differs between young (18-30 years) and older (65+ years) adults remains to be fully determined. Accordingly, we manipulated the spatial frequency content of text and used eye movement...

In previous studies the utilisation of spatial frequency information in face perception has been investigated by using static recognition tasks. In this study we used a visual search task, which requires eye movements and fast identification of previously learned facial photographs. Using Fourier phase randomisation, spatial information was selectively removed without changing the amplitude spe...

The purpose of the present study was to find out what differences between foveal and peripheral pattern recognition remain unexplained by the inhomogeneities of retinal sampling and the optics of the eye. We measured contrast thresholds for pattern recognition at different eccentricities. The effects of retinal sampling were homogenised by using M-scaling of the stimuli, and the effects of the ...

Which features of websites are important for users' perceptions regarding aesthetics or usability? This study investigates how evaluations of aesthetic appeal and usability depend on high vs. low spatial frequencies. High spatial frequencies convey information on fine details, whereas low spatial frequencies convey information about the global layout. Participants rated aesthetic appeal and usa...

Perceptual learning effects demonstrate that the adult visual system retains neural plasticity. If perceptual learning holds any value as a treatment tool for amblyopia, trained improvements in performance must generalize. Here we investigate whether spatial frequency discrimination learning generalizes within task to other spatial frequencies, and across task to contrast sensitivity. Before an...

Hemispheric specialization for spatial frequency processing was investigated by measuring the contrast sensitivity curves of sine-wave gratings in 30 left or right brain-damaged patients using different spatial frequencies compared with healthy participants. The results showed that left brain-damaged patients were selectively impaired in processing high frequencies, whereas right brain-damaged ...

Perceptual learning effects demonstrate that the adult visual system retains neural plasticity. If perceptual learning holds any value as a treatment tool for amblyopia, trained improvements in performance must generalise. Here we investigate whether spatial frequency discrimination learning generalises within task to other spatial frequencies, and across task to contrast sensitivity. Before an...