Abstract
Observations on the structure of the visual field and its central representation lead to a paradox. A functional dissociation is indicated in oculomotor or attentional control when different response modes are observed as a function of stimulus eccentricity. Alternatively, constancy of brightness throughout the visual field suggests its homogeneity. This paradox can be resolved, if perceptual and motor processes are not conceived of being controlled by separate neuronal mechanisms, but are interconnected within one frame of reference. The reafference principle allows to formulate such a common frame as it integrates afferent and efferent processes. On the basis of this concept, the visual field paradox can be interpreted as not being a paradox at all, but a necessary condition for optimal information processing.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson RA, Snyder LH, Bradley DC, Xing J (1997) Multimodal representation of space in the posterior parietal cortex and its use in planning movements. Annu Rev Neurosci 20:303–330
Bao Y, Pöppel E (2007) Two spatially separated attention systems in the visual field: evidence from inhibition of return. Cogn Process 8:37–44
Bao Y, Sander T, Trahms L, Pöppel E, Lei Q, Zhou B (2011) The eccentricity effect of inhibition of return is resistant to practice. Neurosci Lett 500:47–51
Brandt S, Reiser M, Pöppel E (1988) Color induction: spatial gain of regional retinal disinhibition in different color channels. Naturwiss 75:574–575
Buneo CA, Anderson RA (2006) The posterior parietal cortex: sensorimotor interface for the planning and online control of visually guided movements. Neuropsychologia 44:2594–2606
Chen L (2005) The topological approach to perceptual organization. Visual Cogn 12:553–637
Culham JC, Valyear KF (2006) Human parietal cortex in action. Curr Opin Neurobiol 16:205–212
Frost D, Pöppel E (1976) Different programming modes of human saccadic eye movements as a function of stimulus eccentricity: indications of a functional subdivision of the visual field. Biol Cybern 23:39–48
Pöppel E (1985) Bridging a neuronal gap: perceptual completion across a cortical scotoma is dependent on stimulus motion. Naturwiss 72:599
Pöppel E (1986) Long-range colour-generating interactions across the retina. Nature 320:523–525
Pöppel E (2005) Complementarity as a generative principle in visual perception. Visual Cogn 12:665–670
Pöppel E, Harvey LO Jr (1973) Light-difference threshold and subjective brightness in the periphery of the visual field. Psychol Forsch 34:145–161
Pöppel E, Held R, Frost D (1973) Residual visual function after brain wounds involving the central visual pathways in man. Nature 243:295–296
Pöppel E, von Cramon D, Backmund H (1975) Eccentricity specific dissociation of visual functions in patients with lesions of the central visual pathways. Nature 256:489–490
Roenneberg T, Pöppel E (1985) Topographical distribution of the summation property of Y-ganglion cells in the cat retina. Exp Brain Res 59:1–9
Teuber HL (1960) Perception. Handbook Physiol Neurophysiol III:1595–1668
Tosoni A, Galati G, Romani GL, Corbetta M (2008) Sensory-motor mechanisms in human parietal cortex underlie arbitrary visual decisions. Nat Neurosci 11:1446–1453
Van Buren JM (1963) The retinal ganglion cell layer. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL
von Helmholtz H (1896) Handbuch der physiologischen Optik. Verlag von Leopold Voss, Hamburg und Leipzig, 2. Auflage
von Holst E, Mittelstaedt H (1950) Das reafferenzprinzip. Wechselwirkungen zwischen Zentralnervesystem und Peripherie. Naturwiss 37:464–476
Weiskrantz L, Warrington EK, Sanders MD, Marshall J (1974) Visual capacity in the hemianopic field following a restricted occipital ablation. Brain 97:709–728
Wilson ME, Toyne MJ (1970) Retino-tectal and cortico-tectal projections in Macaca mulatta. Brain Res 24:395–406
Zhou B, Bao Y, Sander T, Trahms T, Pöppel E (2010) Dissociation of summation and peak latencies in visual processing: an MEG study on stimulus eccentricity. Neurosci Lett 483:101–104
Zihl J, Lissy P, Pöppel E (1980) Brightness perception in the visual field: effects of retinal position and adaptation level. Psychol Res 41:297–304
Conflict of interest
This supplement was not sponsored by outside commercial interests. It was funded entirely by ECONA, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pöppel, E., Bao, Y. The visual field paradox: a theoretical account on the reafference principle providing a common frame for the homogeneity and inhomogeneity of visual representation. Cogn Process 13 (Suppl 1), 285–287 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0489-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0489-1