Center-surround interactions in foveal and peripheral vision

Vision Res. 2000;40(22):3065-72. doi: 10.1016/s0042-6989(00)00152-8.

Abstract

The perceived contrast of a central stimulus can be decreased (surround suppression) or increased (surround facilitation) by the presence of surround stimuli. In this report we examined center-surround interactions in foveal and peripheral vision using contrast-matching tasks. We found that: (1) surround suppression became markedly stronger as the center-surround stimulus was moved toward the periphery; (2) surround facilitation diminished in the periphery; and (3) the suppression in the periphery was less orientation- and frequency-specific than that in the fovea, so that significant suppression was induced even when the central and surround gratings had very different orientations and spatial frequencies. The different center-surround interactions in the fovea and periphery can not be accounted for by cortical magnification, suggesting that center-surround interactions in the fovea and periphery are incommensurable and play different functional roles in human image processing.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Contrast Sensitivity / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Perceptual Masking / physiology*
  • Visual Fields / physiology*