A visual sense of number.

SummaryEvidence exists for a nonverbal capacity for the apprehension of number, in humans [1] (including infants [2, 3]) and in other primates [4–6]. Here, we show that perceived numerosity is susceptible to adaptation, like primary visual properties of a scene, such as color, contrast, size, and speed. Apparent numerosity was decreased by adaptation to large numbers of dots and increased by adaptation to small numbers, the effect depending entirely on the numerosity of the adaptor, not on contrast, size, orientation, or pixel density, and occurring with very low adaptor contrasts. We suggest that the visual system has the capacity to estimate numerosity and that it is an independent primary visual property, not reducible to others like spatial frequency or density of texture [7]

The ventriloquist effect results from near-optimal bimodal integration

Results for the various unimodal location discriminations for naive observer L.M. are shown in Figure 1A. The curves plot the proportion of trials in which the second stimulus was seen to the left of the first, as a function of actual physical displacement. Following standard practice, the data were fitted with cumulative Gaussian functions free to vary in position and width: the position of the median (50 % leftward) is termed the point of subjective equality (PSE), and the width � 3Department of Psychology represents the estimate of localization accuracy (pre-University of Florence sumed to depend on internal noise). For all unimodal 50125 Florence conditions, the PSE was near 0�, but � varied consider-Italy ably. For visual stimuli, � was smallest (approximatel

Different coding strategies for the perception of stable and changeable facial attributes

Perceptual systems face competing requirements: improving signal-to-noise ratios of noisy images, by integration; and maximising sensitivity to change, by differentiation. Both processes occur in human vision, under different circumstances: they have been termed priming, or serial dependencies, leading to positive sequential effects; and adaptation or habituation, which leads to negative sequential effects. We reasoned that for stable attributes, such as the identity and gender of faces, the system should integrate: while for changeable attributes like facial expression, it should also engage contrast mechanisms to maximise sensitivity to change. Subjects viewed a sequence of images varying simultaneously in gender and expression, and scored each as male or female, and happy or sad. We found strong and consistent positive serial dependencies for gender, and negative dependency for expression, showing that both processes can operate at the same time, on the same stimuli, depending on the attribute being judged. The results point to highly sophisticated mechanisms for optimizing use of past information, either by integration or differentiation, depending on the permanence of that attribute

constructing stable spatial maps of the word

To interact rapidly and effectively with our environment, our brain needs access to a neural representation—or map—of the spatial layout of the external world. However, the construction of such a map poses major challenges to the visual system, given that the images on our retinae depend on where the eyes are looking, and shift each time we move our eyes, head, and body to explore the world. Much research has been devoted to how the stability is achieved, with the debate often polarized between the utility of spatiotopic maps (that remain solid in external coordinates), as opposed to transiently updated retinotopic maps. Our research suggests that the visual system uses both strategies to maintain stability. f MRI, motion-adaptation, and saccade-adaptation studies demonstrate and characterize spatiotopic neural maps within the dorsal visual stream that remain solid in external rather than retinal coordinates. However, the construction of these maps takes time (up to 500 ms) and attentional resources. To s..

Adaptation-Induced Compression of Event Time Occurs Only for Translational Motion

Adaptation to fast motion reduces the perceived duration of stimuli displayed at the same location as the adapting stimuli. Here we show that the adaptation-induced compression of time is specific for translational motion. Adaptation to complex motion, either circular or radial, did not affect perceived duration of subsequently viewed stimuli. Adaptation with multiple patches of translating motion caused compression of duration only when the motion of all patches was in the same direction. These results show that adaptation-induced compression of event-time occurs only for uni-directional translational motion, ruling out the possibility that the neural mechanisms of the adaptation occur at early levels of visual processing