The maturation of global motion perception depends on the spatial and temporal offsets of the stimulus

Abstract

The typical development of motion perception is commonly assessed with tests of global motion integration using random dot kinematograms. There are discrepancies, however, with respect to when typically-developing children reach adult-like performance on this task, ranging from as early as 3 years to as late as 12 years. To address these discrepancies, the current study measured the effect of frame duration (Δt) and signal dot spatial offset (Δx) on motion coherence thresholds in adults and children. Two Δt values were used in combination with seven Δx values, for a range of speeds (0.3-38 deg/s). Developmental comparisons showed that for the longer Δt, children performed as well as adults for larger Δx, and were immature for smaller Δx. When parameters were expressed as speed, there was a range of intermediate speeds (4-12 deg/s) for which maturity was dependent on the values of Δx and Δt tested. These results resolve previous discrepancies by showing that motion sensitivity to a given speed may be mature, or not, depending on the underlying spatial and temporal properties of the motion stimulus.

Unilateral Amblyopia Affects Two Eyes: Fellow Eye Deficits in Amblyopia

“…Visual evoked potentials indicate that infants are sensitive to coherent global motion by 5 months of age, 214,215 though cortical activity patterns are not adult-like at this age. Depending on the stimulus used, global motion coherence thresholds in children can reach adult-like values before age 5 years 181,216 or as late as age 15 years. 217 Global motion perception may develop sooner in life for fast than for slow stimulus speeds 216,218 (but see Ref.…”

“…Depending on the stimulus used, global motion coherence thresholds in children can reach adult-like values before age 5 years 181,216 or as late as age 15 years. 217 Global motion perception may develop sooner in life for fast than for slow stimulus speeds 216,218 (but see Ref. 217), though in healthy children 216 and developing macaques, 186,219 mature performance can also depend on spatiotemporal (Dx, Dt) stimulus parameters rather than motion speed per se.…”

Concurrent maturation of visuomotor skills and motion perception in typically‐developing children and adolescents

“…MD form stimuli activate the classic motion area MT+, regions in the intraparietal cortex of the dorsal stream, and also regions in the inferior temporal cortex and lateral occipital cortex of the ventral stream (Gulyas, Heywood, Popplewell, Roland, & Cowey, 1994;Meier, Partanen, & Giaschi, 2018). Motion sensitivity continues to improve into the school-age years and the age of maturation to adult-like performance depends on spatial and temporal stimulus parameters (Giaschi & Regan, 1997;Meier & Giaschi, 2014, 2017Parrish, Giaschi, Boden, & Dougherty, 2005;Schrauf, Wist, & Ehrenstein, 1999). Because the performance of young children (4-6 years) is immature for MD form stimuli using slow (<1 deg/s) but not fast (5 deg/s) signal dot speeds (Hayward, Truong, Partanen, & Giaschi, 2011), the current study employed a stimulus with a slow speed (0.1 deg/s) to track development as a function of age.…”

The Davida Teller Award Lecture, 2016

“…Adult levels of form coherence sensitivity were reached for most typically developing children around 7–10 years, but global motion sensitivity showed a slower developmental course, being considerably poorer in 4–5 year olds and not reaching adult levels till around 8–12 years of age. However, the exact age at which adult global sensitivity is found depends critically on the comparability of the stimuli used to compare form with motion, and the spatial and temporal parameters of the stimuli used in particular studies (Meier & Giaschi, 2014; Hadad, Schwartz, Maurer, & Lewis, 2015). …”