Visual beats: Preliminary observations of perceived rate as a function of retinal locus stimulated

Abstract

Visual beats produced by simultaneous presentation of two different flicker frequencies were used to determine the temporal processing of various retinal areas. The dichoptic presentation of two different flicker frequencies to the center and periphery of the retina resulted in a perceived beat rate that equalled the physical beat frequency. When the stimuli were presented to more discrete retinal areas (temporal vs temporal and nasal vs temporal), the perceived beat rate also equalled the physical beat frequency. The data indicate that different flicker frequencies stimulating divergent retinal loei can be represented accurately and simultaneously in the visual system: Differences in temporal resolution at the different retinal loei do not occur for this repetitive stimulation.