Adaptation-induced blindness is orientation-tuned and monocular

Deborah Apthorp*, Scott Griffiths, David Alais, John Cass

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We examined the recently discovered phenomenon of Adaptation-Induced Blindness (AIB), in which highly visible gratings with gradual onset profiles become invisible after exposure to a rapidly flickering grating, even at very high contrasts. Using very similar stimuli to those in the original AIB experiment, we replicated the original effect across multiple contrast levels, with observers at chance in detecting the gradual onset stimuli at all contrasts. Then, using full-contrast target stimuli with either abrupt or gradual onsets, we tested both the orientation tuning and interocular transfer of AIB. If, as the original authors suggested, AIB were a high-level (perhaps parietally mediated) effect resulting from the 'gating' of awareness, we would not expect the effects of AIB to be tuned to the adapting orientation, and the effect should transfer interocularly. Instead, we find that AIB (which was present only for the gradual onset target stimuli) is both tightly orientationtuned and shows absolutely no interocular transfer, consistent with a very early cortical locus.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-15
    Number of pages15
    Journali-Perception
    Volume8
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2017

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