Optical and neural anisotropy in peripheral vision

Zheleznyak, Len; Barbot, Antoine; Ghosh, Atanu; Yoon, Geunyoung

doi:10.1167/16.5.1

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Wavefront measurements were collected for each observer using their everyday correction method, if any, and fitted to individual Zernike polynomials to estimate the habitual RMS error (total RMS or hRMS+; Fig.1c ), reported in microns ( µm ). As detailed and demonstrated previously (11,13,14), our AOVS provided stable, aberration-free optical quality during testing, in both typical and severely aberrated eyes ( Fig.1d and Fig.S2 ). Further details are provided in SI Methods .…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 81%

“…AO-correction in “healthy” eyes allows observers to detect a larger range of high-SF information otherwise indiscernible in the presence of typical optical blur, improving visual acuity (9) and contrast sensitivity (10). More importantly, AO correction can be used to assess how changes in optical quality alter neural functions, by making it possible to compare visual functions under fully-corrected optical quality of both typical “healthy” eyes (5,9-11) and those with severe optical abnormalities (12-14).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional reorganization of sensory processing following long-term neural adaptation to optical defects

Barbot

Park

Zhang

et al. 2020

Preprint

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How we see is fundamentally limited by the eye's optics, which determine retinal image quality and constrain neural processing. Elucidating how long-term exposure to optical defects alters visual processing is vital for understanding the human brain's capacity for and limits of sensory plasticity. Using adaptive optics to bypass the eye's optical aberrations, we assessed changes in visual processing in neurotypically-developed adults with keratoconus (KC)-a corneal disease causing severe optical aberrations during adulthood that cannot be fully corrected using conventional methods. As a result, KC patients are chronically exposed to degraded retinal images in their everyday life, making them an ideal model to understand how prolonged exposure to poor optical quality alters visual processing. Here, we show that when tested under similar fully-corrected optical conditions as neurotypical observers, KC patients exhibited altered contrast sensitivity, with impaired sensitivity for fine spatial details and better sensitivity for coarse spatial details. Both gains and losses in contrast sensitivity were more pronounced in patients with poorer habitual optical quality. Moreover, using an equivalent noise paradigm and a computational model of visual processing, we show that these alterations in visual processing are mediated by changes in signal enhancement of spatial frequency selective mechanisms. The present findings uncover fundamental properties of neural compensation mechanisms in response to long-term exposure to optical defects, which alter sensory processing and limit the benefits of improved optics. The outcome is a large-scale functional reorganization favoring the processing of sensory information less affected by the eye's optics.Significance statement: The eye's optics represent an intrinsic limit to human visual perception, determining the quality of retinal images. Neural adaptation optimizes the brain's limited sensory processing capacity to the structure of the degraded retinal inputs, providing an exceptional quality of vision given these optical limitations. Here, we show that prolonged exposure to poor optical quality results in a functional reorganization of visual processing that favors sensory information less affected by the eye's optics. The present study helps elucidate how optical factors shape the way the brain processes visual information. Notably, the resulting adaptive neural plasticity limits the immediate perceptual benefits of optical interventions, a factor that must be taken into consideration when treating the increasing human population affected by optical defects.Understanding how we see requires insights into the contribution of both optical and neural factors mediating visual perception, from the processing of images formed on the retina to the resulting perceptual representations. Visual processing is fundamentally limited by the eye's optics, which determine retinal image quality and constrain performance. Human optics, however, are not fixed and can substantially change over o...

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Functional reorganization of sensory processing following long-term neural adaptation to optical defects

Barbot

Park

Zhang

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…The causes of visual asymmetries with polar angle are barely known. Starting at the level of the human eye, optical quality is not uniform across the retina (e.g., Jaeken & Artal, 2012;Polans et al, 2015;Song et al, 2011;Zheleznyak et al, 2016). Optical factors chronically degrade retinal image quality, which can result in neural insensitivity to high-SF information (e.g., Barbot et al, 2020;Sabesan & Yoon, 2009;Sawides et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetries in visual acuity around the visual field

Barbot¹,

Xue²,

Carrasco³

2020

Preprint

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Human vision is heterogeneous across the visual field. At a fixed eccentricity, performance is better along the horizontal than the vertical meridian, and better along the lower than the upper vertical meridian. These asymmetric patterns, termed performance fields, have been found in numerous visual tasks, including those mediated by contrast sensitivity and spatial resolution. However, it is unknown whether spatial resolution asymmetries are confined to the cardinal meridia or whether, and how far, they extend into the upper and lower hemifields. Here, we measured the extent of the vertical meridian asymmetry by assessing spatial frequency (SF) sensitivity at isoeccentric peripheral locations (10 degree eccentricity), every 15º of polar angle. On each trial, observers judged the orientation (±45º) of a suprathreshold grating stimulus varying in spatial frequency. We estimated 75%-correct SF thresholds, SF cutoff points (i.e., chance-level) and slopes of the psychometric function for each of the 24 isoeccentric locations. We found higher SF sensitivity in the lower than the upper hemifield, with this asymmetry being most pronounced at the vertical meridian and decreasing gradually as the angular distance from the vertical meridian increased. This gradual change in SF sensitivity with polar angle reflected a shift of the psychometric function without reliable changes in slope. The same pattern was found under binocular and monocular conditions. These findings advance our understanding of visual processing around the visual field and help constrain models of visual perception.

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“…Geungyoung Yoon (GY): My lab uses AO to investigate how the optical quality of the eye interacts with the neural system in determining perceived image quality and visual performance (Yoon et al 2002, Sabesan et al 2012, Zheleznyak et al 2016). An AO vision simulator is a powerful tool to manipulate the eye’s aberration noninvasively and in real time.…”

Section: Adaptive Optics For Visual Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An AO vision simulator is a powerful tool to manipulate the eye’s aberration noninvasively and in real time. It simulates various optical conditions for presbyopia correction (Zheleznyak et al, 2013), binocular vision (Sabesan et al, 2012) and peripheral vision (Zheleznyak et al, 2016). With the full correction of the aberration, we are able to investigate neural function by bypassing the eye’s optics similar to laser interferometry.…”

Section: Adaptive Optics For Visual Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vision science and adaptive optics, the state of the field

et al. 2017

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Adaptive optics is a relatively new field, yet it is spreading rapidly and allows new questions to be asked about how the visual system is organized. The editors of this feature issue have posed a series of question to scientists involved in using adaptive optics in vision science. The questions are focused on three main areas. In the first we investigate the use of adaptive optics for psychophysical measurements of visual system function and for improving the optics of the eye. In the second, we look at the applications and impact of adaptive optics on retinal imaging and its promise for basic and applied research. In the third, we explore how adaptive optics is being used to improve our understanding of the neurophysiology of the visual system.

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Optical and neural anisotropy in peripheral vision

Cited by 34 publications

References 62 publications

Functional reorganization of sensory processing following long-term neural adaptation to optical defects

Functional reorganization of sensory processing following long-term neural adaptation to optical defects

Asymmetries in visual acuity around the visual field

Vision science and adaptive optics, the state of the field

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