Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Physics embedded in visual perception of three-dimensional shape from motion

Nature Neuroscience volume 7, pages 921–922 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Visual perception, and by implication underlying neural events, can become unstable when optical information specifying objects is ambiguous. Here we report that one striking form of instability—perceived three-dimensional structure-from-motion (SFM)—can be stabilized when an otherwise ambiguous object appears within a context implying frictional interactions with another rotating object; violations of physical conditions specifying friction disrupt stabilization. Evidently, information about frictional interaction is embedded within neural mechanisms specifying SFM.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Effect of frictional interactions on perception of 3D-SFM.
Figure 2: Results of experiments 2–4.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wallach, H. & O'Connell, D.N. J. Exp. Psychol. 45, 205–217 (1953).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ullman, S. The Interpretation of Visual Motion (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Miles, W.R. Am. J. Psychol. 43, 392–405 (1931).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Eby, D., Loomis, J.M. & Solomon, E.M. Perception 18, 427–444 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Grossmann, J.K. & Dobbins, A.C. Vision Res. 43, 359–369 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Sereno, M.E. & Sereno, M.I. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 25, 1834–1854 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Nawrot, M. & Blake, R. Science 244, 716–718 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hock, H.S., Schöner, G. & Giese, M. Percept. Psychophys. 65, 429–457 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Bradley, D.C., Chang, G.C. & Anderson, R.A. Nature 392, 714–717 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Orban, G.A., Sunaert, S., Todd, J.T., Van Hecke, P. & Marchal, G. Neuron 24, 929–940 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Dodd, J.V., Krug, K., Cummings, B.G. & Parker, A.J. J. Neurosci. 21, 4809–4821 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sereno, M.E., Trinath, T., Augath, M. & Logothetis, N.K. Neuron 33, 635–652 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Nawrot, M. & Blake, R. Vis. Neurosci. 6, 219–227 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Purves, D., Lotto, R.B., Williams, S.M., Nundy, S. & Yang, Z. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 356, 285–297 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Shepard, R.N. Psychol. Rev. 91, 417–447 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank J. Schall and H. Hock for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and D. Bloom and K. Sobel for helpful discussions. This work was supported by U.S. National Institutes of Health grants EY07135 and EY07760.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt Vision Research Center/Department of Psychology, 301 Wilson Hall, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 37203, Tennessee, USA

    Lee A Gilroy & Randolph Blake

Authors
  1. Lee A Gilroy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Randolph Blake
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lee A Gilroy.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gilroy, L., Blake, R. Physics embedded in visual perception of three-dimensional shape from motion. Nat Neurosci 7, 921–922 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1297

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1297

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing