Abstract
A small region of background presented to only one eye in an otherwise binocular display may, under certain conditions, be resolved in the visual system by interpreting the region as a small gap between two similar objects placed at different depths, with the gap hidden in one eye by parallax. This has been called monocular gap stereopsis. We investigated the electrophysiological correlate of this type of stereopsis by means of sum potential recordings in 12 observers, comparing VEP's for this stimulus (“Gillam Stereo”, Author BG has strong reservations about this term) with those for similar stimuli containing disparity based depth and with no depth (flat). In addition we included several control stimuli. The results show a pronounced early negative potential at a latency of around 170 ms (N170) for all stimuli containing non- identical elements, be they a difference caused by binocular disparity or by completely unmatched monocular contours. A second negative potential with latency around 270 ms (N270), on the other hand, is present only with stimuli leading to fusion and the perception of depth. This second component is similar for disparity-based stereopsis and monocular gap, or “Gillam Stereo” although slightly more pronounced for the former. We conjecture that the first component is related to the detection of differences between the images of the two eyes that may then either be fused, leading to stereopsis and the corresponding second potential, or else to inhibition and rivalry without a later trace in the VEP. The finding that that “Gillam Stereo” leads to cortical responses at the same short latencies as disparity based stereopsis indicates that it may partly rely on quite early cortical mechanisms.
Highlights
In recent years it has become clear that binocular depth perception is not restricted to locations in the perceived environment with features that can be explicitly matched in the two eyes
‘‘Disparity Based Stereo’’ versus ‘‘Gillam- Stereo’’ The central question we addressed is whether or not perceived depth based on a monocular gap would evoke similar cortical potentials at short latencies as depth based on disparity
The most important question was whether or not stimuli containing Gillam depth features evoke cortical potentials similar to stimuli producing a stereoscopic impression based on disparity differences
Summary
In recent years it has become clear that binocular depth perception is not restricted to locations in the perceived environment with features that can be explicitly matched in the two eyes. The depth perception we refer to is entirely binocular in origin but incorporates monocular (unpaired) features. The first is the depth seen for an unpaired feature placed in the ‘‘occlusion zone’’ of a binocular surface This is known as ‘‘da Vinci stereopsis’’ since Leonardo da Vinci first pointed out that occluding surfaces may hide more distant surfaces differentially for the two eyes
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