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Effects of grouping in contextual modulation

Nature volume 415, pages 433–436 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Perception of a visual target and the responses of cortical neurons can be strongly influenced by a context surrounding the target1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27. This observation relates to the fundamental issue of how cortical neurons code objects of the external world. In high-contrast regimes, embedding a target in an iso-oriented context reduces neural responses and deteriorates performance in psychophysical experiments. Performance from orthogonal surrounds is better than that from iso-oriented ones1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17. This contextual interference is often postulated to be caused by long- or short-range interactions between neurons tuned to orientation. Here we show, using a new illusion called ‘shine-through’ as a sensitive psychophysical probe, that the orientation difference between target and context does not determine performance. Instead, contextual modulation depends on the overall spatial structure of the context. We propose that contextual suppression vanishes if the contextual elements are grouped to an independent and coherent object.

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Figure 1: The shine-through effect.
Figure 2: Contextual interference cannot be predicted by contextual orientation.
Figure 3: Independence of the context matters.
Figure 4: Shine through interferes with shine through.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Center of Excellence (SFB) ‘Neurocognition’ of the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). We thank M. Repnow for technical support; and B. Gillam, C. Eurich, U. Ernst, A. Etzold, B. Zenger, K. Neumann, F. Kandil, J. Solomon, M. Morgan, J. Zanker and U. Schmonsees for discussions.

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  1. Human Neurobiology, University of Bremen, Argonnenstrasse 3, Bremen, 28211, Germany

    Michael H. Herzog & Manfred Fahle

  2. Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City University, Tait Building, Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0HB, UK

    Manfred Fahle

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  1. Michael H. Herzog
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Correspondence to Michael H. Herzog.

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Herzog, M., Fahle, M. Effects of grouping in contextual modulation. Nature 415, 433–436 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415433a

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