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Manning TS, Alexander E, Cumming BG, DeAngelis GC, Huang X, Cooper EA. Transformations of sensory information in the brain suggest changing criteria for optimality. PLoS Comput Biol 2024; 20:e1011783. [PMID: 38206969 PMCID: PMC10807827 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Neurons throughout the brain modulate their firing rate lawfully in response to sensory input. Theories of neural computation posit that these modulations reflect the outcome of a constrained optimization in which neurons aim to robustly and efficiently represent sensory information. Our understanding of how this optimization varies across different areas in the brain, however, is still in its infancy. Here, we show that neural sensory responses transform along the dorsal stream of the visual system in a manner consistent with a transition from optimizing for information preservation towards optimizing for perceptual discrimination. Focusing on the representation of binocular disparities-the slight differences in the retinal images of the two eyes-we re-analyze measurements characterizing neuronal tuning curves in brain areas V1, V2, and MT (middle temporal) in the macaque monkey. We compare these to measurements of the statistics of binocular disparity typically encountered during natural behaviors using a Fisher Information framework. The differences in tuning curve characteristics across areas are consistent with a shift in optimization goals: V1 and V2 population-level responses are more consistent with maximizing the information encoded about naturally occurring binocular disparities, while MT responses shift towards maximizing the ability to support disparity discrimination. We find that a change towards tuning curves preferring larger disparities is a key driver of this shift. These results provide new insight into previously-identified differences between disparity-selective areas of cortex and suggest these differences play an important role in supporting visually-guided behavior. Our findings emphasize the need to consider not just information preservation and neural resources, but also relevance to behavior, when assessing the optimality of neural codes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler S. Manning
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Emma Alexander
- Department of Computer Science, Northwestern University, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Bruce G. Cumming
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Gregory C. DeAngelis
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, United States of America
| | - Xin Huang
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin, Madison
| | - Emily A. Cooper
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
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2
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Uejima T, Mancinelli E, Niebur E, Etienne-Cummings R. The influence of stereopsis on visual saliency in a proto-object based model of selective attention. Vision Res 2023; 212:108304. [PMID: 37542763 PMCID: PMC10592191 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2023.108304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023]
Abstract
Some animals including humans use stereoscopic vision which reconstructs spatial information about the environment from the disparity between images captured by eyes in two separate adjacent locations. Like other sensory information, such stereoscopic information is expected to influence attentional selection. We develop a biologically plausible model of binocular vision to study its effect on bottom-up visual attention, i.e., visual saliency. In our model, the scene is organized in terms of proto-objects on which attention acts, rather than on unbound sets of elementary features. We show that taking into account the stereoscopic information improves the performance of the model in the prediction of human eye movements with statistically significant differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Uejima
- The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Elena Mancinelli
- The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ernst Niebur
- The Solomon Snyder Department of Neuroscience and the Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ralph Etienne-Cummings
- The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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3
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Henríquez-Piskulich P, Stuart-Fox D, Elgar M, Marusic I, Franklin AM. Dazzled by shine: gloss as an antipredator strategy in fast moving prey. Behav Ecol 2023; 34:862-871. [PMID: 37744168 PMCID: PMC10516678 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies on stationary prey have found mixed results for the role of a glossy appearance in predator avoidance-some have found that glossiness can act as warning coloration or improve camouflage, whereas others detected no survival benefit. An alternative untested hypothesis is that glossiness could provide protection in the form of dynamic dazzle. Fast moving animals that are glossy produce flashes of light that increase in frequency at higher speeds, which could make it harder for predators to track and accurately locate prey. We tested this hypothesis by presenting praying mantids with glossy or matte targets moving at slow and fast speed. Mantids were less likely to strike glossy targets, independently of speed. Additionally, mantids were less likely to track glossy targets and more likely to hit the target with one out of the two legs that struck rather than both raptorial legs, but only when targets were moving fast. These results support the hypothesis that a glossy appearance may have a function as an antipredator strategy by reducing the ability of predators to track and accurately target fast moving prey.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Devi Stuart-Fox
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Mark Elgar
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Ivan Marusic
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Amanda M Franklin
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
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King J, Hemmi JM, Kelley JL. Camouflage using three-dimensional surface disruption. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20220596. [PMID: 37528728 PMCID: PMC10394419 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Disruptive markings are common in animal patterns and can provide camouflage benefits by concealing the body's true edges and/or by breaking the surface of the body into multiple depth planes. Disruptive patterns that are accentuated by high contrast borders are most likely to provide false depth cues to enhance camouflage, but studies to date have used visual detection models or humans as predators. We presented three-dimensional-printed moth-like targets to wild bird predators to determine whether: (1) three-dimensional prey with disrupted body surfaces have higher survival than three-dimensional prey with continuous surfaces, (2) two-dimensional prey with disruptive patterns or enhanced edge markings have higher survival than non-patterned two-dimensional prey. We found a survival benefit for three-dimensional prey with disrupted surfaces, and a significant effect of mean wing luminance. There was no evidence that false depth cues provided the same protective benefits as physical surface disruption in three-dimensional prey, perhaps because our treatments did not mimic the complexity of patterns found in natural animal markings. Our findings indicate that disruption of surface continuity is an important strategy for concealing a three-dimensional body shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jemma King
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
| | - Jan M. Hemmi
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
- UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
| | - Jennifer L. Kelley
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
- UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
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Manning TS, Alexander E, Cumming BG, DeAngelis GC, Huang X, Cooper EA. Transformations of sensory information in the brain reflect a changing definition of optimality. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.24.534044. [PMID: 36993305 PMCID: PMC10055346 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.24.534044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
Neurons throughout the brain modulate their firing rate lawfully in response to changes in sensory input. Theories of neural computation posit that these modulations reflect the outcome of a constrained optimization: neurons aim to efficiently and robustly represent sensory information under resource limitations. Our understanding of how this optimization varies across the brain, however, is still in its infancy. Here, we show that neural responses transform along the dorsal stream of the visual system in a manner consistent with a transition from optimizing for information preservation to optimizing for perceptual discrimination. Focusing on binocular disparity - the slight differences in how objects project to the two eyes - we re-analyze measurements from neurons characterizing tuning curves in macaque monkey brain regions V1, V2, and MT, and compare these to measurements of the natural visual statistics of binocular disparity. The changes in tuning curve characteristics are computationally consistent with a shift in optimization goals from maximizing the information encoded about naturally occurring binocular disparities to maximizing the ability to support fine disparity discrimination. We find that a change towards tuning curves preferring larger disparities is a key driver of this shift. These results provide new insight into previously-identified differences between disparity-selective regions of cortex and suggest these differences play an important role in supporting visually-guided behavior. Our findings support a key re-framing of optimal coding in regions of the brain that contain sensory information, emphasizing the need to consider not just information preservation and neural resources, but also relevance to behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler S Manning
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley
| | | | - Bruce G Cumming
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
| | | | - Xin Huang
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin, Madison
| | - Emily A Cooper
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
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Anderson MD, Elder JH, Graf EW, Adams WJ. The time-course of real-world scene perception: Spatial and semantic processing. iScience 2022; 25:105633. [PMID: 36505927 PMCID: PMC9732406 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Revised: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Real-world scene perception unfolds remarkably quickly, yet the underlying visual processes are poorly understood. Space-centered theory maintains that a scene's spatial structure (e.g., openness, mean depth) can be rapidly recovered from low-level image statistics. In turn, the statistical relationship between a scene's spatial properties and semantic content allows for semantic identity to be inferred from its layout. We tested this theory by investigating (1) the temporal dynamics of spatial and semantic perception in real-world scenes, and (2) dependencies between spatial and semantic judgments. Participants viewed backward-masked images for 13.3 to 106.7 ms, and identified the semantic (e.g., beach, road) or spatial structure (e.g., open, closed-off) category. We found no temporal precedence of spatial discrimination relative to semantic discrimination. Computational analyses further suggest that, instead of using spatial layout to infer semantic categories, humans exploit semantic information to discriminate spatial structure categories. These findings challenge traditional 'bottom-up' views of scene perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt D. Anderson
- Centre for Perception and Cognition, Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK,Corresponding author
| | - James H. Elder
- Centre for Vision Research, Department of Psychology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - Erich W. Graf
- Centre for Perception and Cognition, Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Wendy J. Adams
- Centre for Perception and Cognition, Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
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7
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Origins and diversity of spot-like aposematic and disruptive colorations among cockroaches. Biologia (Bratisl) 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11756-022-01163-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Godinez A, Martín-González S, Ibarrondo O, Levi DM. Scaffolding depth cues and perceptual learning in VR to train stereovision: a proof of concept pilot study. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10129. [PMID: 33980895 PMCID: PMC8114935 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89064-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Stereopsis is a valuable feature of human visual perception, which may be impaired or absent in amblyopia and/or strabismus but can be improved through perceptual learning (PL) and videogames. The development of consumer virtual reality (VR) may provide a useful tool for improving stereovision. We report a proof of concept study, especially useful for strabismic patients and/or those with reduced or null stereoacuity. Our novel VR PL strategy is based on a principled approach which included aligning and balancing the perceptual input to the two eyes, dichoptic tasks, exposure to large disparities, scaffolding depth cues and perception for action. We recruited ten adults with normal vision and ten with binocular impairments. Participants played two novel PL games (DartBoard and Halloween) using a VR-HMD. Each game consisted of three depth cue scaffolding conditions, starting with non-binocular and binocular cues to depth and ending with only binocular disparity. All stereo-anomalous participants improved in the game and most (9/10) showed transfer to clinical and psychophysical stereoacuity tests (mean stereoacuity changed from 569 to 296 arc seconds, P < 0.0001). Stereo-normal participants also showed in-game improvement, which transferred to psychophysical tests (mean stereoacuity changed from 23 to a ceiling value of 20 arc seconds, P = 0.001). We conclude that a VR PL approach based on depth cue scaffolding may provide a useful method for improving stereoacuity, and the in-game performance metrics may provide useful insights into principles for effective treatment of stereo anomalies.This study was registered as a clinical trial on 04/05/2010 with the identifier NCT01115283 at ClinicalTrials.gov.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Dennis M Levi
- School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, USA
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Bu R, Xiao F, Lovell PG, Ye Z, Shi H. Structural and colored disruption as camouflage strategies in two sympatric Asian box turtle species (Cuora spp.). Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
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10
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Galloway JAM, Green SD, Stevens M, Kelley LA. Finding a signal hidden among noise: how can predators overcome camouflage strategies? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190478. [PMID: 32420842 PMCID: PMC7331011 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Substantial progress has been made in the past 15 years regarding how prey use a variety of visual camouflage types to exploit both predator visual processing and cognition, including background matching, disruptive coloration, countershading and masquerade. By contrast, much less attention has been paid to how predators might overcome these defences. Such strategies include the evolution of more acute senses, the co-opting of other senses not targeted by camouflage, changes in cognition such as forming search images, and using behaviours that change the relationship between the cryptic individual and the environment or disturb prey and cause movement. Here, we evaluate the methods through which visual camouflage prevents detection and recognition, and discuss if and how predators might evolve, develop or learn counter-adaptations to overcome these. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A M Galloway
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter (Penryn Campus), Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Samuel D Green
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter (Penryn Campus), Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Martin Stevens
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter (Penryn Campus), Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Laura A Kelley
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter (Penryn Campus), Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
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