Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Retinotopic activity in V1 reflects the perceived and not the retinal size of an afterimage

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

From Nature Neuroscience

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

An afterimage looks larger when one fixates on a distant than on a closer surface. We show that the retinotopic activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) associated with viewing an afterimage is modulated by perceived size, even when the size of the retinal image remains constant. This suggests that V1 has an important role in size constancy when the viewing distance of the stimulus changes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1: Methods.
Figure 2: Results.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gregory, R.L. Eye and Brain (Oxford Univ. Press, 1998).

  2. Murray, S.O., Boyaci, H. & Kersten, D. Nat. Neurosci. 9, 429–434 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fang, F., Boyaci, H., Kersten, D. & Murray, S.C. Curr. Biol. 18, 1707–1712 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Schwarzkopf, D.S., Song, C. & Rees, G. Nat. Neurosci. 14, 28–30 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Emmert, E. Klin. Mbl. Augenheilk. 19, 443–450 (1881).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Sereno, M.I. et al. Science 268, 889–893 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Liu, Q. et al. Neuroreport 20, 809–814 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Leibowitz, H., Brislin, R., Perlmutter, L. & Hennessy, R. Science 166, 1174–1176 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Holway, A.H. & Boring, E.G. Am. J. Psychol. 54, 21–37 (1941).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Brett, M., Anton, J.L., Valabregue, R. & Poline, J.B. Neuroimage 16, S497 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Dale, A.M., Fischl, B. & Sereno, M.I. Neuroimage 9, 179–194 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Fischl, B., Sereno, M.I. & Dale, A.M. Neuroimage 9, 195–207 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wunderlich, K., Schneider, K.A. & Kastner, S. Nat. Neurosci. 8, 1595–1602 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Richard Gregory, whose scientific curiosity was a great source of inspiration for us. We would also like to thank D. Vendramini and L. Strother for their technical support, J. Ladich for constructing our apparatus, A. McLean and K. Krueger for operating the MRI scanner and G. Buckingham for comments. This research was supported by an Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Postdoctoral Award to I.S., by an Ontario Mental Health Foundation Postdoctoral Award to P.A.C. and by a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to M.A.G.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

    Irene Sperandio, Philippe A Chouinard & Melvyn A Goodale

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

    Irene Sperandio, Philippe A Chouinard & Melvyn A Goodale

Authors
  1. Irene Sperandio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Philippe A Chouinard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Melvyn A Goodale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melvyn A Goodale.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Sections 1–5, Supplementary Figures 1–6, Supplementary Table 1 (PDF 838 kb)

Supplementary Video 1

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 1. (MPG 11986 kb)

Supplementary Video 2

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 2. (MPG 11756 kb)

Supplementary Video 3

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 3. (MPG 11852 kb)

Supplementary Video 4

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 4. (MPG 12462 kb)

Supplementary Video 5

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 5. (MPG 11288 kb)

Supplementary Video 6

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 6. (MPG 11728 kb)

Supplementary Video 7

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 7. (MPG 11330 kb)

Supplementary Video 8

Changes in V1 activation over time for subject 8. (MPG 11730 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sperandio, I., Chouinard, P. & Goodale, M. Retinotopic activity in V1 reflects the perceived and not the retinal size of an afterimage. Nat Neurosci 15, 540–542 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3069

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3069

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation