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Cited by 78Visual perception and processing mechanismsNeurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchAdvanced Vision and Imaging

A theory of insect vision: velocity parallax

Horridge, George Adrian·1986·Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rspb.1986.0071
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Abstract

Many insects show by their behaviour that they detect visually the existence of separate objects. The experimental material to analyse how they perceive objects is provided by an insect that walks to the end of a stick; then, because it has no alternative, it reaches with a foreleg towards a neighbouring object that it perceives to be within range. Some insects make horizontal peering movements as an aid to vision. The peering motion is exactly appropriate for generating an apparent velocity of nearby objects relative to the background. These experiments, when put together with the known properties of optic lobe neurons, suggest that a mechanism based on velocity parallax projected to the horizontal plane accounts for much insect visual behavour. Velocity parallax is defined as the discrepancy seen at the edge of an object against a distant background when the eye moves laterally. On this theory, perception of an object is inseparable from the local detection of velocity differences. The background may not be ‘perceived' at all when an object occurs in the foreground. The postulated mechanism is a two- or three-stage feedback, in which the perceived velocity (or, more accurately, the spatially correlated contrast frequency) in small-field motion-perception units is reduced by the averaged contrast frequency in larger fields, which feed back upon them. Contrast frequency is defined as the frequency of the flicker that is generated by a pattern moving across the eye. An alternative mechanism to the feedback of the velocity signal with lateral spread is adaptation to the local average background velocity, while sensitivity to a smaller local change in velocity is retained. That idea comes from recent work on the H1 neuron in the fly optic lobe, and could be the basis of a primitive form vision that, if present in mediumfield neurons, is adequate for the whole of the normal visual behaviour of a freely moving insect. These speculations invite a variety of experimental tests, ranging from visual discrimination tests with bees that are shown the velocity parallax situation, to appropriate stimulation of optic lobe neurons, to simulation of a visual processing system that relies on velocity parallax cues to detect objects.

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  • The properties of distal senses provide further perspective structure when combined with self-motion.

    “The properties of distal senses provide further perspective structure when combined with self-motion [47,60,61].”

    From Phenomenal interface theory: a model for basal consciousness (2025) · cites this paper as [60]

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Authors
Horridge, G. A.
Affiliations
Australian National University (AU)
Corresponding author
Horridge, George Adrian
Venue
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
1986-10-22
Volume
229
Issue
1254
Pages
13-27
ISSN
  • 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
  • 2053-9193
DOI
10.1098/rspb.1986.0071
OpenAlex
W1989728025
Cited by
78
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2012: 1
FWCI
2.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Advanced Vision and Imaging
Keywords
insect vision, motion perception, lateral eye movements, object detection, visual feedback

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