Cortical Dynamics of Form and Motion Integration: Persistence, Apparent Motion, and Illusory Contours

Date
1994-03
DOI
Authors
Francis, Gregory
Grossberg, Stephen
Version
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
How does the visual system generate percepts of moving forms? How does this happen when the forms are emergent percepts, such as illusory contours or segregated textures, and the motion percept is apparent motion between the emergent forms? We develop a neural model of form-motion interactions to explain and simulate parametric properties of psychophysical motion data and to make predictions about how the parallel cortical processing streams Vl→MT and Vl→V2→MT control form-rotation interactions. The model explains how an illusory contour can move in apparent motion to another illusory contour or to a luminance derived contour; how illusory contour persistence relates to the upper ISI threshold for apparent motion; and how upper and lower ISI thresholds for seeing apparent motion between two flashes decrease with stimulus duration and narrow with spatial separation (Korte's laws). The model accounts for these data. by suggesting how the persistence of a. boundary segmentation in the Vl→V2 processing stream influences the quality of apparent motion in the Vl→MT stream through V2→MT' interactions. These data may all be explained by an analysis of how orientationally tuned form perception mechanisms and directionally tuned motion perception mechanisms interact.
Description
License
Copyright 1994 Boston University. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that: 1. The copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage; 2. the report title, author, document number, and release date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of BOSTON UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and / or special permission.