Object size determines the spatial spread of visual time

Fulcher, Corinne; McGraw, Paul V.; Roach, Neil W.; Whitaker, David; Heron, James

Abstract

A key question for temporal processing research is how the nervous system extracts event duration, despite a notable lack of neural structures dedicated to duration encoding. This is in stark contrast to the orderly arrangement of neurons tasked with spatial processing. In the current study, we examine the linkage between the spatial and temporal domains. We use sensory adaptation techniques to generate aftereffects where perceived duration is either compressed or expanded in the opposite direction to the adapting stimulus’ duration. Our results indicate that these aftereffects are broadly tuned, extending over an area approximately five times the size of the stimulus. This region is directly related to the size of the adapting stimulus – the larger the adapting stimulus the greater the spatial spread of the aftereffect. We construct a simple model to test predictions based on overlapping adapted vs non-adapted neuronal populations and show that our effects cannot be explained by any single, fixed-scale neural filtering. Rather, our effects are best explained by a self scaled mechanism underpinned by duration selective neurons that also pool spatial information across earlier stages of visual processing.

Citation

Fulcher, C., McGraw, P. V., Roach, N. W., Whitaker, D., & Heron, J. (2016). Object size determines the spatial spread of visual time. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283(1835), Article 20161024. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1024

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 4, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jul 27, 2016
• Publication Date: Jul 27, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 27, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 27, 2016
• Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Print ISSN: 0962-8452
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-2954
• Publisher: The Royal Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 283
• Issue: 1835
• Article Number: 20161024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1024
• Keywords: time perception; spatial selectivity; duration adaptation; visual; size; aftereffect
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/799197
• Publisher URL: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1835/20161024