Abstract
MOTION-SENSITIVE mechanisms in human vision are selective for direction of stimulus movement. Psychophysical experiments reveal direction-specific channels which can be selectively desensitised or adapted1,2. At threshold these direction-specific mechanisms operate independently; they have little or no sensitivity for the opposite direction of motion3–6. Independence at threshold does not, of course, preclude interaction at suprathreshold stimulus levels. Indeed, inhibition has been found above threshold between otherwise independent spatial frequency-specific mechanisms7,8, orientation-selective mechanisms9,10, and binocular disparity-specific mechanisms11. We report here comparable measurements of inhibition between direction-specific channels. We also show that in appropriate conditions the inhibition can itself be reduced or eliminated, a disinhibition effect.
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LEVINSON, E., SEKULER, R. Inhibition and disinhibition of direction-specific mechanisms in human vision. Nature 254, 692–694 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/254692a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/254692a0
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