On the independence of chromatic and achromatic stereopsis mechanisms

Simmons, D.R. and Kingdom, F.A. (1997) On the independence of chromatic and achromatic stereopsis mechanisms. Vision Research, 37(10), pp. 1271-1280.

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Abstract

The extent to which the processing of stereoscopic depth information can take place separately in colour-contrast-sensitive and luminance-contrast-sensitive mechanisms has been investigated. Contrast thresholds for stereoscopic depth identification (front/back) were measured using 0.5 c/deg Gabor patches. The stimuli possessed different amounts of colour and luminance contrast ranging from isoluminance (red/green) to isochrominance (yellow/black) through intermediate values. Two models for combining chromatic and achromatic stereopsis information were tested. The first (single-pathway) model assumed colour and luminance contrast summation within a single luminance-contrast-sensitive mechanism before stereoscopic judgement. The second (dual-pathway) model assumed probability summation between independent chromatic and achromatic stereopsis mechanisms. The latter model provided the better fit to the data. In providing evidence in favour of an independent chromatic stereopsis mechanism, it was shown that luminance artifacts were unlikely to be the cause of maintained stereopsis at isoluminance. The possible neural substrates of chromatic stereopsis are discussed.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Simmons, Dr David
Authors: Simmons, D.R., and Kingdom, F.A.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
Journal Name:Vision Research
Publisher:Pergamon
ISSN:0042-6989
ISSN (Online):1878-5646

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