Human psychophysical analysis of receptive field-like properties—II. Dichoptic properties of the Westheimer function

Abstract

Foveal Westheimer function (desensitization-sensitization) determinations were performed for monoptic, mixed (“50/50”) and dichoptic viewing conditions using two different psychophysical methods. Typical Westheimer function results were obtained for monoptic viewing, whereas the “50/50” and dichoptic background field conditions revealed little or no dichoptic influences on the Westheimer function per se. However, the dichoptically-presented background fields produced an overall threshold elevation of approx 0.4 log units, which was essentially independent of the background field size. In conjunction with previous evidence, these results indicate that the psychophysical Westheimer function reflects retinal events.