Spatial Luminance Contrast Sensitivity Measured with Transient VEP: Comparison with Psychophysics and Evidence of Multiple Mechanisms

Souza, Givago da Silva; Gomès, Bruno; Saito, Cézar Akiyoshi; Filho, Manoel da Silva; Silveira, Luiz Carlos de Lima

doi:10.1167/iovs.07-0018

Cited by 42 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The decrease observed in visual spatial CS in patients with major depression was statistically significant only at the low spatial frequencies (.25 and 1.0 cpd), which are probably processed preferentially by the magnocellular visual pathway, especially when considering low luminance used in the study (Lee, Martin, & Valberg, 1989;Livingstone & Hubel, 1987;Murray, Parry, & Carden, 1987;Valberg & Rudvin, 1997;Vassilev, Stomonyakov, & Manahilov, 1994). According to Souza et al (2007), at low spatial frequencies of .4 -.8 cpd, only the magnocellular visual pathway appears to be relevant for the cortical response. No significant differences in CS were found between the control group and experimental group at the highest spatial frequency tested (4.0 cpd).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Mesopic Visual Contrast Sensitivity in Patients with Major Depression

Nogueira¹,

Espínola²,

Lacerda³

et al. 2013

OJD

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The present study evaluated the effects of major depression on visual contrast sensitivity (CS) at low mesopic luminance (.7 cd/m 2 mean luminance), a condition that has been little explored in the literature. We measured spatial visual CS in 20 male volunteers aged 20 -30 years, including 10 healthy individuals and 10 medicated individuals with major depression, to linear sine-wave gratings of .25, 1.0, and 4.0 cycles per degree (cpd) of visual angle using the psychophysical staircase method with forced choice. The average spatial visual CS in the depressed group was approximately 1.7 lower than the average spatial visual CS in the control group. However, the post hoc test showed significant differences only at the spatial frequencies of .25 and 1.0 cpd (p < .05), which are likely processed by the magnocellular visual pathway. These results suggest that spatial visual CS to sine-wave gratings should be used to evaluate the responsiveness of the visual system in patients with major depression under conditions of low luminance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Mesopic Visual Contrast Sensitivity in Patients with Major Depression

Nogueira¹,

Espínola²,

Lacerda³

et al. 2013

OJD

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“…Some electrophysiological studies with non-human primates reported that the electrical activity of neurons in the primary visual cortex depends linearly on the logarithm of luminance (Kayama et al, 1979;Kinoshita & Komatsu, 2001). There are also a few fMRI and EEG studies of humans, which suggest that the activation intensity in the primary visual cortex is linearly dependent on the logarithm of luminance contrast (Avidan, Harel, Hendler, Ben-Bashat, Zohary, & Malach, 2002;Boynton, Demb, Glover, & Heeger, 1999;Goodyear & Menon, 1998;Souza, Gomes, Saito, Filho, & Silveira, 2007). However, the relationship of timing and location to perceived brightness is still unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuromagnetic Correlates of Perceived Brightness in Human Visual Cortex

Kondo

Tsubomi

Watanabe

2010

PSYCHOLOGIA -An International Journal of Psychological Sciences

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We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate the timing and location of cortical activity related to perceived brightness. Participants passively observed 1 of 5 disks of different luminance (1, 3.2, 10, 32, and 100 cd/m 2 ) during MEG recording, and rated the perceived brightness of the disk before and after the MEG recording. The perceived brightness showed an almost perfect log-linear dependence on luminance intensity. The MEG results showed that the stimulus presentation evoked neuromagnetic responses in the occipital region approximately 150 ms after stimulus onset. The average magnitude of the response was positively correlated with the subjective ratings of perceived brightness as well as the log-scaled stimulus luminance. These findings suggest that the neuromagnetic responses in the occipital cortex reflect subjective brightness perception and that the visual cortex completes the brightness assignment as early as 150 ms after stimulus onset. The possible clinical application of these results is discussed.

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“…The way in which VEP changes with stimulus contrast has been used to distinguish between the cortical activity of different visual pathways (Campbell & Maffei, 1970;Nakayama & Mackeben, 1982;Bobak, Bodis-Wollner, Harnois, & Harnois, 1984;Previc, 1988;Valberg & Rudvin, 1997;Rudvin, Valberg, & Kilavik, 2000;Ellemberg, Hammarrenger, Lepore, Roy, & Guillemot, 2001;Gomes, Souza, Rodrigues, Saito, Silveira, & da Silva Filho, 2006;Gomes, Souza, Lima, Rodrigues, Saito, da Silva Filho, & Silveira, 2008;Souza, Gomes, Saito, da Silva Filho, & Silveira, 2007;Souza, Gomes, Lacerda, Saito, da Silva Filho, & Silveira, 2008). Visual evoked potential amplitude linearly depends on the logarithm of stimulus contrast, sometimes with saturation at high contrasts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although often only one straight line is sufficient to describe the data, depending on the spatial frequency, two separate straight lines may be needed (Campbell & Maffei, 1970;Nakayama & Mackeben, 1982;Bobak et al, 1984;Valberg & Rudvin, 1997;Rudvin et al, 2000;Souza et al, 1997Souza et al, , 1998. Zemon & Gordon (2006) and Souza et al (2007Souza et al ( , 2008 suggested that a function that relates VEP amplitude with stimulus contrast that linearly increases and then saturates at high achromatic contrasts is a signature of the activity of a single visual pathway, possibly the magnocellular (M) pathway, which is highly sensitive to contrast, reflected by single-cell recordings of M neurons in the retina and lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) (Kaplan & Shapley, 1982, 1986Lee, Martin, & Valberg, 1989; Lee et al, 2000). Souza et al (2007) also suggested that a double-slope function indicates a contrast-dependent contribution of different visual pathways to VEP.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zemon & Gordon (2006) and Souza et al (2007Souza et al ( , 2008 suggested that a function that relates VEP amplitude with stimulus contrast that linearly increases and then saturates at high achromatic contrasts is a signature of the activity of a single visual pathway, possibly the magnocellular (M) pathway, which is highly sensitive to contrast, reflected by single-cell recordings of M neurons in the retina and lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) (Kaplan & Shapley, 1982, 1986Lee, Martin, & Valberg, 1989; Lee et al, 2000). Souza et al (2007) also suggested that a double-slope function indicates a contrast-dependent contribution of different visual pathways to VEP. The high-contrast-sensitive M pathway dominates the VEP at low contrasts, whereas the low-contrast-sensitive pathway dominates the VEP at high contrasts (i.e., the parvocellular [P] pathway either in isolation or in combination with other visual pathways; Valberg & Rudvin, 1997;Rudvin et al, 2000;Souza et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contrast sensitivity of pattern transient VEP components: Contribution from M and P pathways.

Souza

Gomès

Lacerda

et al. 2013

Psychology & Neuroscience

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The purpose of this study was to compare contrast sensitivity estimated from transient visual evoked potentials (VEPs) elicited by achromatic pattern-reversal and pattern-onset/offset modes. The stimuli were 2-cpd, achromatic horizontal gratings presented either as a 1 Hz pattern reversal or a 300 ms onset/700 ms offset stimulus. Contrast thresholds were estimated by linear regression to amplitudes of VEP components vs. the logarithm of the stimulus contrasts, and these regressions were extrapolated to the zero amplitude level. Contrast sensitivity was defined as the inverse of contrast threshold. For pattern reversal, the relation between the P100 amplitude and log of the stimulus contrast was best described by two separate linear regressions. For the N135 component, a single straight line was sufficient. In the case of pattern onset/offset for both the C1 and C2 components, single straight lines described their amplitude vs. log contrast relations in the medium-to-low contrast range. Some saturation was observed for C2 components. The contrast sensitivity estimated from the low-contrast limb of the P100, from the N135, and from the C2 were all similar but higher than those obtained from the high-contrast limb of the P100 and C1 data, which were also similar to each other. With 2 cpd stimuli, a mechanism possibly driven by the M pathway appeared to contribute to the P100 component at medium-to-low contrasts and to the N135 and C2 components at all contrast levels, whereas another mechanism, possibly driven by the P and M pathways, appeared to contribute to the P100 component at high contrast and C1 component at all contrast levels.

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Spatial Luminance Contrast Sensitivity Measured with Transient VEP: Comparison with Psychophysics and Evidence of Multiple Mechanisms

Cited by 42 publications

References 32 publications

Mesopic Visual Contrast Sensitivity in Patients with Major Depression

Mesopic Visual Contrast Sensitivity in Patients with Major Depression

Neuromagnetic Correlates of Perceived Brightness in Human Visual Cortex

Contrast sensitivity of pattern transient VEP components: Contribution from M and P pathways.

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