Activities per year
Abstract
Background: Crowding impairs the ability to recognize an object in clutter. Visual masking refers to impaired performance
on a target stimulus when a mask stimulus is briefly presented before, during, or after the target, at the same, or at
flanking locations. Each crowding and visual masking effect represents a very important stage in visual processing and
both are widely used as a tool to study visual processing in the brain. Yet the relation between crowding and lateral
masking is unclear. In our previous studies we showed that crowding is correlated with masking; a higher degree of
crowding correlates with higher masking. Previous studies showed that training on lateral masking improves some visual
functions but the effect on crowding is not yet clear. Here we explored whether training on lateral masking can reduce the
crowding effect as well as improve other visual functions in the fovea and the peripheral.
Methods: Subjects were tested before and after undergoing training in visual acuity, stereo acuity, letter crowding, spatial
alignment, and contrast sensitivity. The subjects were trained on detection tasks and on two types of masking
(simultaneous, temporal). The target appeared randomly either at the fovea or at the periphery (right or left).
Results: During the training sessions the extent of spatial and temporal masking was reduced. After training, the group
improved in visual acuity, spatial alignment, and contrast sensitivity at all locations. In addition, stereo acuity was tested
and it improved in the fovea and crowding was reduced at the periphery. Discussion: The results indicate that training
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that reduces the masking effect is transferred to reduction in the crowding effect. Thus, the results support our hypothesis
that crowding and lateral masking share similar mechanisms. The improvements in all trained locations, using lateral
masking, support our suggestion that similar basic processing takes place in both peripheral and the foveal vision.
Israel Science foundation and Dept. of Defense, USA
Original language | American English |
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State | Published - 2012 |
Event | The 21stAnnual Meeting of the Israel Society for Neuroscience (ISFN) - Israel Society for Neuroscience (ISFN), Eilat, Israel Duration: 15 Dec 2012 → 18 Dec 2012 http://www.isfn.org.il/images/stories/2012/abstracts-2012.pdf (Website) |
Conference
Conference | The 21stAnnual Meeting of the Israel Society for Neuroscience (ISFN) |
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Country/Territory | Israel |
City | Eilat |
Period | 15/12/12 → 18/12/12 |
Internet address |
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The 21stAnnual Meeting of the Israel Society for Neuroscience (ISFN)
Polat, U. (Participation - Conference participant)
15 Dec 2012 → 18 Dec 2012Activity: Participating in or organizing an event › Organizing a conference, workshop, ...
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International workshop on perceptual learning
Polat, U. (Participation - Conference participant)
4 Oct 2012 → 8 Oct 2012Activity: Participating in or organizing an event › Organizing a conference, workshop, ...
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Conference Invited Keynote
Zion Golumbic, E. (Keynote speaker)
15 Dec 2012 → 18 Dec 2012Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk