1. Psychology 4051
Spatial Vision

2. Spatial Vision
The ability to detect objects and patterns and distinguish them from a background.
Arguably, the most important single aspect of vision.
Assessed using tests of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity.

3. Visual Acuity
The smallest stimulus that can be detected or recognized.
One’s sharpness of vision.
Resolution Acuity: The smallest stimulus that can be resolved from a uniform background.

4. Resolution Acuity
Can be measured behaviorally or electrophysiologically.
Stimuli include square wave gratings, sine wave gratings, checkerboard patterns.
AKA: grating acuity

5. Recognition Acuity
The smallest stimulus that can be identified or recognized.
Measured using optotypes (i.e., optotype acuity).
Snellen Test

6. Recognition Acuity Measured in Snellen notation.
Expressed in terms of test distance (numerator) and in comparison to an adult with normal vision (denominator).
20/20
20/50
20/16

7. Recognition Acuity Snellen test possess pitfalls
Unequal number of letters
Unequal crowding
No systematic progression
Unequal detection

8. Recognition Acuity LogMAR tests provide a better alternative
Equal number of letters
Proportionate spacing
Equivalent letter difficulty
Regular line progression
ETDRS

9. Recognition Acuity Use logMAR units. Log10 minimum angle of resolution
Smaller number = better vision
20/200 = 1.0 logMAR
20/20 = 0 logMAR
20/16 = -0.1 logMAR
Lines progress in 0.1 logMAR units

10. Recognition Acuity Resolution acuity overestimates “true acuity.”
Recognition acuity should be measured as early in life as possible.
Preschool years
Preschoolers are not literate and can not complete letter acuity tests.

11. Recognition Acuity
Preschoolers can be assessed with limited number of optotypes.
Simplified letter optotypes can be used.
Illiterate E
HOTV

12. Recognition Acuity Easy to recognize symbols can be used. Lea Symbols
PattiPics Symbols

13. Development Resolution Acuity
Adult-like at age 5 (Skoczenski & Norcia, 2002).
Age (months)
Acuity (cpd)
Snellen
Newborns
2.0
20/300 6
6.4
20/95 12
8.1
20/75 18
9.3
20/65 24
10.9
20/60 36
17.3
20/35 48
24.4
20/25 60
30.0
20/20
Data are drawn from Salomao & Ventura (1995), Mayer et al. (1995), and
Drover et al. (2009).

14. Development
Grating acuity appears to be mediated by optical and retinal properties.
Length of the eye, pupil, photoreceptors
In adults, grating acuity can be predicted based on photorecepter diameter and spacing.

15. Devolopment
To see a grating, an unstimulated photoreceptor must lie between two stimulated photoreceptors.

16. Development
Improvements in grating acuity are probably due to changes in cone diameter and spacing.
child
adult

17. Development Recognition Acuity
Adultlike by approximately years of age (Drover et al. 2008; Simmers et al. 1997).
Visual Acuity
Age
Number
Mean
95%
Lower
Group of
Visual
Tolerance
Limit
(years)
Participants
Eyes
Acuity
Limits
(Snellen) 3 37
68*
0.08
20/24
±0.21
0.29 4
182
360*
±0.17
0.25 5 47
93*
0.03
20/21
±0.19
0.22 6 34 68
-0.03
20/19
±0.18
0.19 7 35 70
-0.02
±0.10
0.11 10 49 98
-0.06
20/17
±0.12
0.06
Adults 23 46
-0.04
20/18
±0.04
0.13

18. Development
Optotype acuity can not be predicted based on photoreceptor spacing and is likely mediated by other mechanisms.

19. Contrast Sensitivity Measurement of visual acuity can be problematic.
Assesses vision at very high contrast levels only.
Contrast: The difference in brightness levels between light and dark elements of a pattern.
98% contrast

20. Contrast Sensitivity In the real world, brightness and contrast vary.
Visual disorders may affect patients at lower contrast levels.
May score normally on visual acuity but still complain of blurry vision.

21. Contrast Sensitivity
CS: the minimum amount of contrast required to detect sine wave gratings at different spatial frequencies.
Measures one’s sensitivity to size and contrast simultaneously.
Measured by assessing one’s contrast threshold to sinewave gratings at different spatial frequencies.

22. Contrast Sensitivity
Contrast threshold is measure at each spatial frequency.

23. Contrast Sensitivity
Specifically, contrast sensitivity is the reciprocal of contrast threshold.
Low threshold = high contrast sensitivity
High threshold = low contrast sensitivity
One’s contrast sensitivity can be plotted for each spatial frequency.
The result is the contrast sensitivity function (CSF).

24. Contrast Sensitivity Inverted u-shaped function.
Contrast sensitivity is highest at mid-spatial frequencies.
The CSF contains several important landmarks.

25. The Contrast Sensitivity Function
Provides an evaluation of real-world vision
Everything under the CSF is visible
Everything above the CSF is invisible
It’s a window of visibility.

26. Landmarks The reduction is CS at high SF is high frequency roll-off
The x-axis intercept can be extrapolated.
Provides an estimate of the highest SF that can be detected at maximum contrast.
Contrast Sensitivity 1
100
1000 2 4 8 16 32
Spatial Frequency (cpd)

27. Landmarks Can provide a measure of visual acuity.
Contrast Sensitivity 1
100
1000 2 4 8 16 32
Spatial Frequency (cpd)
Can provide a measure of visual acuity.
Good agreement between this measure and traditional resolution acuity (Drover et al. 2006).

28. Landmarks Peak CS is at 2 – 5 cpd.
Contrast Sensitivity 1
100
1000 2 4 8 16 32
Spatial Frequency (cpd)
Peak CS is at 2 – 5 cpd.
This may correspond to average receptive field size of retinal ganglion cells.

29. Landmarks
The stripewidth of the grating may correspond to the center/surround size of receptive fields.
This would provide near maximal stimulation of the retinal ganglion cell.
Less contrast is required to detect the grating +

30. Landmarks The reduction in CS at low SF is low frequency attenuation.
Contrast Sensitivity 1
100
1000 2 4 8 16 32
Spatial Frequency (cpd)
The reduction in CS at low SF is low frequency attenuation.
May be due to lateral inhibition throughout the visual system

31. Landmarks The low SF grating illuminates both the center and surround.
The surround inhibits the center of the receptive field +

32. Spatial Frequency Channels
The shape of the CSF may reflect underlying spatial frequency channels.
Cell groups in the visual system that respond to a small range of spatial frequencies only.
The CSF is simply an envelope that covers all SF channels.
Evidence comes from selective adaptation experiments.

33. Spatial Frequency Channels

34. Clinical Significance of the CSF
Provides a measure of real world vision.
Disorders may selectively affect certain SF channels.
This will not be picked up the visual acuity testing.

35. Clinical Significance of the CSF
Contrast Sensitivity 1
100
1000 2 4 8 16 32
Spatial Frequency (cpd)
If a single spatial frequency channel is affected, notches may appear in the CSF.

36. Clinical Significance of the CSF
Will also detect disorders that affect visual acuity alone.
1000
Contrast Sensitivity
100 1 2 4 8 16 32
Spatial Frequency (cpd)

37. Measurement in Infant and Toddlers
Infants and toddlers can be assessed electrophysiologically using VEP
Sine wave gratings are presented at a single spatial frequency while contrast is swept.
Start at low contrast move to high contrast
The contrast at which the VEP reaches background noise is a measure of contrast threshold.
Other spatial frequencies are then presented.

38. Measurement in Infants and Toddlers
Infants and toddlers can also be assessed using contrast sensitivity cards following FPL.
The cards are modeled on the Teller Acuity Cards.
The CS cards consist of 40 cards arranged in 5 spatial frequency sets.

39. Contrast Sensitivity Cards
The lowest contrast sine wave grating detected at each spatial frequency is a measure of contrast threshold.

40. Development Overall contrast sensitivity increases with age.
More combinations of SFs and contrasts can be detected.
Peak CS shifts upwards and rightwards

41. Development CS at higher SFs develops at the fastest rate.
Continues to develop until 4 years of age.
Improvement at low spatial frequencies continues until 9 years of age.
Low frequency attenuation may not be present until 2 months of age.

42. Development
Overall CS increase is likely due to increase lengths of the photoreceptors and an increase in funneling capacity.
Increase CS at higher SFs may be due to tighter packing of cones in the fovea and an increase in the number of photons caught.