Cited by 391Visual perception and processing mechanismsFace Recognition and PerceptionNeuroscience and Music Perception

Neuronal basis of contrast discrimination

Open access
Boynton, Geoffrey M., Demb, Jonathan B., Glover, Gary H., Heeger, David J.·1999·Vision Research

Abstract

Psychophysical contrast increment thresholds were compared with neuronal responses, inferred from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test the hypothesis that contrast discrimination judgements are limited by neuronal signals in early visual cortical areas. FMRI was used to measure human brain activity as a function of stimulus contrast, in each of several identifiable visual cortical areas. Contrast increment thresholds were measured for the same stimuli across a range of baseline contrasts using a temporal 2AFC paradigm. FMRI responses and psychophysical measurements were compared by assuming that: (1) fMRI responses are proportional to local average neuronal activity; (2) subjects choose the stimulus interval that evoked the greater average neuronal activity; and (3) variability in the observer's psychophysical judgements was due to additive (IID) noise. With these assumptions, FMRI responses in visual areas V1, V2d, V3d and V3A were found to be consistent with the psychophysical judgements, i.e. a contrast increment was detected when the fMRI responses in each of these brain areas increased by a criterion amount. Thus, the pooled activity of large numbers of neurons can reasonably well predict behavioral performance. The data also suggest that contrast gain in early visual cortex depends systematically on spatial frequency.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0042-6989(98)00113-8

Cites

67 of 67 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Several studies have found good agreement between population-level responses of gain-modulated neurons and psychophysical performance in visual contrast discrimination in humans and non-human primates.

    “Indeed, several studies have found good agreement between the population-level responses of gain-modulated neurons (such as the population-average contrast response function) and psychophysical performance (for example, in visual contrast discrimination) in humans and non-human primates12,20–24.”

    From Mechanisms underlying gain modulation in the cortex (2020) · cites this paper as [21]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Boynton, G. M., Demb, J. B., Glover, G. H., & Heeger, D. J.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
Heeger, David J.
Venue
Vision Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1999-01
Volume
39
Issue
2
Pages
257-269
ISSN
0042-6989 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2145425091
Cited by
391
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 14
FWCI
7.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Vision Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r29mh050228-05)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (F32-MH10897, R29-MH50228, F32MH010897)
  • National Eye Institute (R01EY011794)
  • National Center for Research Resources (P41 RR-09784, P41RR009784)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
Keywords
contrast discrimination, early visual cortex, primary visual cortex, V2, V3, population coding, contrast gain, spatial frequency, additive noise model
MeSH terms
Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Photic Stimulation, Psychophysics, Visual Cortex, Contrast Sensitivity

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review