Abstract
A mathematical examination of retinal photochemistry leads to a hypothesis for Mach band phenomena based on eye movements. This retinal model suggests why minimally distinct borders fade under eye fixation and agrees qualitatively with subjective measures of border contrast as a function of overall field luminance.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bittini, M., Ercoles, A., Fiorentini, A., Ronchi, L., Toraldo di Francis, G.: Enhanced contrast of an indefinitely contoured object by movement or intermittent illumination. AH. Fond Giorgio Ronchi 1 5, 62–84 (1960)
Cornsweet, T. N.: Changes in the appearance of stimuli of very high luminance. Psych. Rev. 69, (No. 4) 257–273 (1962).
Davson, H.: The Eye. Vol. 2B, 2nd Ed. New York: Academic Press 1977
Ditchburn, R. W., Ginsborg, B. L.: Vision with a stabilized retinal image. Nature 170, 36 (1952)
Fein, A., Szuts, E. Z.: Photoreceptors, their role in vision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1982
Frome, F. S., Buck, S. L., Boynton, R. M.: Visibility of borders: separate and combined effects of color differences, luminance contrast, and luminance level. J. Opt. Soc. Sm. 71, 145–150 (1981)
Hubel, D. J., Wiesel, T. N.: Receptive fields of single neurons in the cat's striate cortex. J. Physiol. 148, 574–591 (1959).
Hubel, D. H., Wiesel, T. N.: Receptive fields and functional architecture of monkey striate cortex. J. Physiol. London 195, 215–243 (1968)
Ratliff, F.: Mach Bands: Quantitive studies on neural networks in the retina. San Francisco: Holden-Day Inc., 1965
Riggs, L. A., Ratliff, F., Cornsweet, J. C., Cornsweet, T. N.: The disappearance of steadily fixated objects. J. Opt. Soc. Am. 43, 495–501 (1953)
Riggs, L. A., Ratliff, F., Keesey, U. T.: Appearance of Mach bands with a motionless retinal image. J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51, 702–703 (1961)
Rubinow, S.: Introduction to Mathematical Biology. New York: John Wiley and Sons 1975
Schiller, P. H., Finlay, B. L., Volman, S. F.: Quantitative Studies of Single Cell Properties in Monkey Striate Cortex. I. Spatiotemporal Organization of Receptive Fields. J. Neurophysiol. 39, 1288–1319 (1976)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Deceased
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Woods, S.D., Rand, R.H., Block, H.D. et al. Eye movements and the enhancement of edges. J. Math. Biology 21, 273–283 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00276226
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00276226