Low-pass Functions Research Articles

Characterization of Dirac-structure edges with wavelet transform

This paper aims at studying the characterization of Dirac-structure edges with wavelet transform, and selecting the suitable wavelet functions to detect them. Three significant characteristics of the local maximum modulus of the wavelet transform with respect to the Dirac-structure edges are presented: (1) slope invariant: the local maximum modulus of the wavelet transform of a Dirac-structure edge is independent on the slope of the edge; (2) grey-level invariant: the local maximum modulus of the wavelet transform with respect to a Dirac-structure edge takes place at the same points when the images with different grey-levels are processed; and (3) width light-dependent: for various widths of the Dirac-structure edge images, the location of maximum modulus of the wavelet transform varies lightly under the certain circumscription that the scale of the wavelet transform is larger than the width of the Dirac-structure edges. It is important, in practice, to select the suitable wavelet functions, according to the structures of edges. For example, Haar wavelet is better to represent brick-like images than other wavelets. A mapping technique is applied in this paper to construct such a wavelet function. In this way, a low-pass function is mapped onto a wavelet function by a derivation operation. In this paper, the quadratic spline wavelet is utilized to characterize the Dirac-structure edges and a novel algorithm to extract the Dirac-structure edges by wavelet transform is also developed.

First-Principles Calculation of the Electronic Transport Properties of Metals

properties are directly related to the topology of the Fermi surface. In particular, in semi-metal and narrow gap semi-conductor systems, a small amount of electron/hole doping will cause dramatic change in the transport properties. The recent development of highly accurate electronic structure calculation methods and new techniques for band fitting enable us to explore potential candidates of novel materials from first-principles calculations. We have implemented a band interpolation scheme to the WIEN97 full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (LAPW) band structure package 6), 7) to investigate the electronic transport properties of metals and alloy. The electronic transport coefficients are calculated from Fermi surface integration of the quantities related to band structure, e.g., density of states, Fermi velocity and effective mass tensor. In order to obtain these quantities, we used the modified Shankland-Koelling-Wood (SKW) band interpolation scheme 9) with a simple filtering technique. We applied low-pass filtering function to the interpolation equation in order to suppress high frequency wiggles appearing near band crossing points. The detailed procedure of the calculation will be described in a future paper. 10) The calculated and experimentally observed Hall coefficient for several cubic metals are listed in Table I. Previous theoretical results obtained from tight-binding calculations 8) are also tabulated for comparison. As shown in Table I, the overall agreement between present calculations and experiments is very good except for Fe. In the case of Fe, the band crossing near the ∆ point causes high frequency wiggles in the second derivative of the Fermi surface, which give rise to large numerical error in the unfiltered Hall coefficient. This problem is corrected by the filtering procedure. Figure 1 and 2 show calculated carrier concentration nH and Seebeck coefficient S for β � Sb3Zn4. It is experimentally observed that this compound has highly efficient thermoelectric power measured by a dimensionless figure of merit ZT = σS 2 T/ κ, where σ, T and κ correspond to electrical conductivity, temperature and thermal conductivity, respectively. The non-stoichiometric site occupation number of the compound is taken into account by a rigid band model, i.e., the Fermi level obtained by the calculation for stoichiometric composition is shifted by an amount of +0.027 Ry which yields experimentally observed carrier concentration nH =0 .05 hole/cell. Present result for the Seebeck coefficient shows excellent agreement with experiment and other theoretical calculation. 11) We observed that the calculated thermopower for this compound is very sensitive to the doping level(high hole doping

Spatial color contrast matching: broad-bandpass functions and the flattening effect

The contrast matching function (CMF) is the reciprocal of test contrast that perceptually matches the contrast of standard pattern, measured as a function of test spatial frequency (SF). Achromatic CMFs usually flatten as the contrast of the standard is raised, and are broader than the achromatic, bandpass, contrast sensitivity function (CSF). This report investigates whether chromatic CMFs have similar characteristics. For this purpose, the red–green color channel was defined using minimum flicker and hue cancellation techniques. Spatially localized (D6), vertical, equiluminant patterns (SFs: 0.063–8 cpd; contrast: 3–80%) were used to measure the CSF and CMF of isoluminant patterns presented with a temporal Gaussian envelope. CMFs were measured using a randomized double-staircase procedure and the two-interval forced choice technique. Two color-normal observers, whose task was to select the interval that had higher color contrast, participated in experiments. Results show that: (a) the color CMFs are lowpass functions of SF at low standard contrasts (3–12.5%), broad-bandpass at intermediate contrasts (6.25–60%), and near-flat at high contrasts (80%); and (b) isoluminant CMFs have higher upper cut-off frequencies than isoluminant CSFs. It is concluded that: (i) color-contrast-constancy (CMF independent of SF) is partly achieved at high contrasts because color CMFs flatten as contrast increases; (ii) the information processing at suprathreshold levels is different from that at the threshold levels; and (iii) the model that explained achromatic CMFs using achromatic threshold mechanisms could not explain chromatic CMFs using chromatic threshold mechanisms.

Spectro-temporal modulation transfer functions and speech intelligibility.

Detection thresholds for spectral and temporal modulations are measured using broadband spectra with sinusoidally rippled profiles that drift up or down the log-frequency axis at constant velocities. Spectro-temporal modulation transfer functions (MTFs) are derived as a function of ripple peak density (omega cycles/octave) and drifting velocity (omega Hz). The MTFs exhibit a low-pass function with respect to both dimensions, with 50% bandwidths of about 16 Hz and 2 cycles/octave. The data replicate (as special cases) previously measured purely temporal MTFs (omega = 0) [Viemeister, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66, 1364-1380 (1979)] and purely spectral MTFs (omega = 0) [Green, in Auditory Frequency Selectivity (Plenum, Cambridge, 1986), pp. 351-359]. A computational auditory model is presented that exhibits spectro-temporal MTFs consistent with the salient trends in the data. The model is used to demonstrate the potential relevance of these MTFs to the assessment of speech intelligibility in noise and reverberant conditions.

The effect of spatial frequency on chromatic and achromatic steady-state visual evoked potentials

Objective: Little is known about the physiological properties of the major components of steady-state visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Based on the hypothesis that isoluminant color and high contrast pattern differentially activate the parvo- and magnocellular pathways, we studied difference in spatial frequency function between chromatic and achromatic VEPs to sinusoidal gratings.Methods: Steady-state VEPs to isoluminant chromatic (red-green) and high contrast (90%) achromatic (black-white) sinusoidal gratings with nine spatial frequencies (0.5 to 8.0 cycles/° (cpd)) at 4 Hz (8 reversals/s) were recorded in 13 normal subjects. VEPs were Fourier analyzed to obtain phase and amplitude of the second (2F) and fourth (4F) harmonic responses.Results: The 2F amplitude of chromatic VEPs decreased above 4.0 cpd in a low-pass function while that of achromatic VEPs showed a band-pass function with a peak at 4.0 cpd. The 4F amplitude of chromatic VEPs was not affected significantly by spatial frequency whereas that of achromatic VEPs exhibited a high-pass function. The phases of 2F and 4F showed a non-monotonic function of spatial frequency in both chromatic and achromatic stimuli with peaks at middle spatial frequencies.Conclusion: Chromatic and achromatic visual stimuli differently affected 2F and 4F components, which thus suggests that 2F and 4F components are generated from different neuronal subgroups largely in the parvocellular pathway.

Insensitive Multifunction Filter Implemented with Current Conveyors and only Grounded Passive Elements

The paper presents a new multifunction filter which can simultaneously realise low-pass, high-pass and band-pass functions. The circuit employs only positive-type second generation current conveyors, grounded passive components and exhibits high input impedance. No element matching conditions are imposed. The filter permits orthogonal adjustment of quality factor Q and ω 0 . For one possible set of component selection the filter permits compensation for the parasitics. The passive sensitivities are shown to be low.

New multifunction filter implemented with current conveyors

A new multifunction filter implementation is presented which can simultaneously realise low-pass, high-pass and band-pass functions. The circuit employs only grounded passive components, exhibits high input impedance, and no element matching conditions are imposed. The filter permits orthogonal adjustment of quality factor Q and ω 0. The passive sensitivities are shown to be low.

Some Prominent Characteristics of the Modified Elliptic Low-Pass Function

A modified elliptic low-pass filter function with progressively diminishing ripples in both the passband and the stopband is proposed and analyzed. The modified elliptic function is realizable by the passive doubly-terminated ladder network for the order n even or odd, thus lending themselves amenable to high-quality low-sensitivity active RC or switched capacitor filters through the simulation techniques. Besides the passive ladder network realization, the modified elliptic function has improved characteristics both in the frequency domain and the time domain as compared with the classical elliptic function. In addition, the modified function exhibits better magnitude sensitivity properties than the classical function.

Processing of sinusoidally amplitude modulated signals in the nuclei of the lateral lemniscus of the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus

Changes in amplitude are a characteristic feature of most natural sounds, including the biosonar signals used by bats for echolocation. Previous evidence suggests that the nuclei of the lateral lemniscus play an important role in processing timing information that is essential for target range determination in echolocation. Neurons that respond to unmodulated tones with a sustained discharge are found in the dorsal nucleus (DNLL), intermediate nucleus (INLL) and multipolar cell division of the ventral nucleus (VNLLm). These neurons provide a graded response over a broad dynamic range of intensities, and would be expected to provide information about the amplitude envelope of a modulated signal. Neurons that respond only at the onset of a tone make up a small proportion of cells in DNLL, INLL and VNLLm, but are the only type found in the columnar division of the ventral nucleus (VNLLc). Onset neurons in VNLLc maintain a constant latency across a wide range of stimulus frequencies and intensities, thus providing a precise marker for when a sound begins. To determine how these different functional classes of cells respond to amplitude changes, we presented sinusoidally amplitude modulated (SAM) signals monaurally to awake, restrained bats and recorded the responses of single neurons extracellularly. There were clear differences in the ability of neurons in the different cell groups to respond to SAM. In the VNLLm, INLL and DNLL, 90% of neurons responded to SAM with a synchronous discharge. Neurons in the VNLLc responded poorly or not at all to SAM signals. This finding was unexpected given the precise onset responses of VNLLc neurons to unmodulated tones and their ability to respond synchronously to sinusoidally frequency modulated (SFM) signals. Among neurons that responded synchronously to SAM, synchronization as a function of modulation rate described either a bandpass or a lowpass function, with the majority of bandpass functions in neurons that responded to unmodulated tones with a sustained discharge. The maximal modulation rates that elicited synchronous responses were similar for the different cell groups, ranging from 320 Hz in VNLLm to 230 Hz in DNLL. The range of best modulation rates was greater for SAM than for SFM; this was also true of the range of maximal modulation rates at which synchronous discharge occurred. There was little correlation between a neuron's best modulation rate or maximal modulation rate for SAM signals and those for SFM signals, suggesting that responsiveness to amplitude and frequency modulations depends on different neural processing mechanisms.

Auditory evoked responses to rhythmic sound pulses in dolphins.

The ability of auditory evoked potentials to follow sound pulse (click or pip) rate was studied in bottlenosed dolphins. Sound pulses were presented in 20-ms rhythmic trains separated by 80-ms pauses. Rhythmic click or pip trains evoked a quasi-sustained response consisting of a sequence of auditory brainstem responses. This was designated as the rate-following response. Rate following response peak-to-peak amplitude dependence on sound pulse rate was almost flat up to 200 s-1, then displayed a few peaks and valleys superimposed on a low-pass filtering function with a cut-off frequency of 1700 s-1 at a 0.1-amplitude level. Peaks and valleys of the function corresponded to the pattern of the single auditory brain stem response spectrum; the low-pass cut-off frequency was below the auditory brain stem response spectrum bandwidth. Rate-following response frequency composition (magnitudes of the fundamental and harmonics) corresponded to the auditory brain stem response frequency spectrum except for lower fundamental magnitudes at frequencies above 1700 Hz. These regularities were similar for both click and pip trains. The rate-following response to steady-state rhythmic stimulation was similar to the rate-following response evoked by short trains except for a slight amplitude decrease with the rate increase above 10 s-1. The latter effect is attributed to a long-term rate-dependent adaptation in conditions of the steady-state pulse stimulation.

An investigation of filter choice for filtered back-projection reconstruction in PET

A key parameter in the practical application of filtered back-projection (FBP), the standard clinical image reconstruction algorithm for positron emission tomography (PET), is the choice of a low-pass filter window function and its cut-off frequency. However, the filter windows and cut-off frequencies for clinical reconstruction are usually chosen empirically, based on a small sample of images and filters. By considering the features of the signal and noise spectra in a sinogram, the desired image resolution, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the filtered sinogram, a methodology for informed selection of a filter function and cut-off frequency for FBP was investigated. Simulations of sinogram data similar to whole body or cardiac studies provided information on the signal and noise frequency-domain spectra of noisy projection data. The improvements in SNR with different filter windows and cut-off frequencies were evaluated and compared. The projection spectrum SNR measure did not prove to be an accurate indicator of subjective image quality or lesion detectability with variations in Poisson noise and image resolution.

個体撮像とその関連技術 光学的ローパス機能を有するプラスチック製視感度補正フィルタの開発

We developed an unprecedented optical filter which has a luminous efficiency filtering function and an optical low pass filtering function for the downsizing of CCD camera optics. The filter was made of synthetic resin and it had phase grating on its surface. The light transmittance and the optical low-pass function of the new filter which had a 1 mm thickness were a little different from those of a conventional quartz device which had a thickness of more than 3 mm. We discuss the characteristics of and the production processes for the developed filter in this paper.

Spatial-frequency tuning of sustained nonoriented units of the red-green channel.

The existence of nonoriented cells but not of sustained orthogonal masking for achromatic stimuli led to an investigation of the spatial-frequency (SF) tuning of sustained nonoriented color units. For this purpose the Red-Green channel was isolated by the minimum flicker and hue cancellation techniques. Chromatic contrast sensitivity functions (CSF's), threshold elevation (TE) curves, and contrast nonlinearities (TE-versus-mask-contrast curves) were measured with spatially localized vertical color tests and sinusoidal orthogonal color masks by the method of constant stimuli under Gaussian temporal presentation. Results show that (1) color CSF's are a low-pass function of SF, whereas TE curves are a bandpass function of mask SF, and (2) a minimum of six SF-tuned color mechanisms (one low pass and five bandpass functions of SF, with peak SF's of 0.13, 0.5, 2, 4, and 8 cycles per degree and bandwidths of 3.9, 4.4, 2.9, 2.1, 1.1, and 1.2 octaves), similar to oblique-masking color mechanisms, are extracted by the multiple-mechanisms model. These data imply that (1) most of the SF tuning of the broadly oriented color units is already present in the circularly symmetric units, and (2) the latter may be an input to the former.

Low-Frequency Variability in a GCM: Three-Dimensional Flow Regimes and Their Dynamics

Abstract General circulation models (GCMs) can be used to develop diagnostics for identifying weather regimes. The author has looked for three-dimensional (3D) weather regimes associated with a 10-yr run of the U.K. UGAMP GCM with perpetual January boundary conditions; 3D low-pass empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs), using both the 500- and 250-mb streamfunctions (ψ) have been computed. These EOFs provide a low-order phase space in which weather regimes are studied. The technique here is an extension to 3D of that of Haines and Hannachi. They found, within the 500-mb ψ EOF phase space, two local minima of area-averaged ψ-tendency (based on barotropic vorticity dynamics), which were identified as ±Pacific–North America (PNA). In this work, the author demands that both the flow and its tendency be within the phase space spanned by the 3D EOFs. The streamfunction tendency is computed from the two-level quasigeostrophic potential vorticity equation and projected onto the EOF phase space. This projection pro...

Dependencies of Motion Assimilation and Motion Contrast on Spatial Properties of Stimuli: Spatial-frequency Nonselective and Selective Interactions Between Local Motion Detectors

Two sets of experiments were carried out to examine dependencies of two types of induced motion (motion assimilation and motion contrast) on spatial properties of stimuli in terms of spatial-frequency tuning of local motion detectors. In the first set, the magnitudes of motion assimilation and motion contrast for a sinusoidal grating were measured as a function of the spatial frequency of the inducing gratings, with the spatial frequency of the test grating as a parameter. In the second set, the magnitudes were measured as a function of the height of the inducing gratings with the spatial frequencies of the test and the inducing gratings as parameters. For motion assimilation, the magnitude was characterized by a low-pass function of the spatial frequency of the inducing gratings, and the critical height of the inducing gratings, which demarcates the extent of the spatial pooling, varied systematically depending on the spatial frequency of the inducing gratings. For motion contrast, on the other hand, the magnitude was characterized by a band-pass function, and the critical height depended on the frequency of the test grating. These results suggest that motion assimilation is mediated by the spatial-frequency nonselective interaction between the local detectors, in which the motion signals of the detectors tuned to different spatial frequencies are integrated with each other. Motion contrast is mediated by the spatial-frequency selective interaction, in which the motion signals of the local detectors tuned to the same or similar spatial frequencies are compared and differentiated. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Neurons with different temporal firing patterns in the inferior colliculus of the little brown bat differentially process sinusoidal amplitude-modulated signals

We examined how well single neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) of an FM bat (Myotis lucifugus) processed simple tone bursts of different duration and sinusoidal amplitude-modulated (SAM) signals that approximated passively heard natural sounds. Units' responses to SAM tones, measured in terms of average spike count and firing synchrony to the modulation envelope, were plotted as a function of the modulation frequency to construct their modulation transfer functions. These functions were classified according to their shape (e.g., band-, low-, high-, and all-pass). IC neurons having different temporal firing patterns to simple tone bursts (tonic, chopper, onset-late, and onset-immediate) exhibited different selectivities for SAM signals. All tonic and 83% of chopper neurons responded robustly to SAM signals and displayed a variety of spike count-based response functions. These neurons showed a decreased level of time-locking as the modulation frequency was increased, and thereby gave low-pass synchronization-based response functions. In contrast, 64% of onset-immediate, 37% of onset-late and 17% of chopper units failed to respond to SAM signals at any modulation frequency tested (5-800 Hz). Those onset neurons that did respond to SAM showed poor time-locking (i.e., non-significant levels of synchronization). We obtained evidence that the poor SAM response of some onset and chopper neurons was due to a preference for short-duration signals. These data suggest that tonic and most chopper neurons are better-suited for the processing of long-duration SAM signals related to passive hearing, whereas onset neurons are better-suited for the processing of short, pulsatile signals such as those used in echolocation.

Detection of gaps in sinusoids by frog auditory nerve fibers: importance in AM coding.

Physiological studies were carried out in the frog (Rana pipiens pipiens) eighth nerve to determine: (i) whether the modulation rate or the silent gap was the salient feature that set the upper limit of time-locking to pulsed amplitude-modulated (PAM) stimuli, (ii) the gap detection capacity of individual eighth nerve fibers. Time-locked responses of 79 eighth nerve fibers to PAM stimuli (at the fiber's characteristic frequency) showed that the synchronization coefficient was a low-pass function of the modulation rate. In response to PAM stimuli having different pulse durations, a fiber gave rise to non-overlapping modulation transfer functions. The upper cut-off frequency of time locking was higher when tone-pulses in PAM stimuli had shorter duration. The fact that the cut-off frequency was different for the different PAM series suggested that the AM rate was neither the sole, nor the main, determinant for the decay in time-locking at high AM rates. Gap detection capacity was determined for 69 eighth nerve fibers by assessing fiber's spiking activities to paired tone-pulses during an OFF-window and an ON-window. It was found that the minimum detectable gap of eighth nerve fibers ranged from 0.5 to 10 ms with an average of 1.23-2.16 ms depending on the duration of paired tone pulses. For each fiber, the minimum detectable gap was longer when the duration of tone pulses comprising the twin-pulse stimuli was more than four times longer. When the synchronization coefficient was plotted against the silent gap between tones pulses in the PAM stimuli, the gap response functions of a fiber as derived from multiple PAM series were equivalent to gap response functions deriving from twin-pulse series suggesting that it was the silent gap which primarily determined the upper limit of time-locking to PAM stimuli.

Processing of amplitude-modulated signals that mimic echoes from fluttering targets in the inferior colliculus of the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus

1. Neurophysiological recordings were undertaken to determine how neurons in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICc) of the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus, extract amplitude modulations that span across a series of tone pulses (i.e., signals that simulate echoes from fluttering targets). Two types of stimuli were presented to the bats. The first served as a control and consisted of an unmodulated train of tone pulses having different repetition rates (TPu, 5-400 pulses per second). The second was a train of tone pulses that were sinusoidally amplitude modulated (TPm, 5-110 Hz) across sequential pulses. The modulated trains of pulses were presented at five different repetition rates (25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 pulses per second) encompassing the range of biosonar emission rates in these bats at different stages of target-directed flight. 2. One hundred fifty-two single neurons were isolated in the ICc of M. lucifugus; their basic response properties and temporal firing patterns were characterized. The best frequencies (BFs) ranged from 10 to 80 kHz and the minimum thresholds at BF were distributed widely (10-95 dB SPL). The frequency tuning selectivity ranged widely, from very broadly tuned (Q10dB = 1.3) to narrowly tuned (Q10dB = 89). Units with very narrow frequency tuning (Q values > 20) were restricted to BFs of 30-50 kHz. The temporal firing pattern of ICc units could be categorized into primary-like (PL), chopper (C), onset-immediate (OI), and onset-late (OL). 3. In response to TPu ICc units exhibited varying degrees of response selectivities as evidenced by their count-based response functions (using the spike count as a measure) versus repetition rate. The count-based response functions of ICc units exhibited five filtering characteristics including band-pass, low-pass, high-pass, band-suppression, and all-pass characteristics. The temporal firing pattern of a unit showed certain correlations with its count-based response function. For example, the majority of OI and OL units, and about half of the C units, showed tuned band-pass response functions. The remaining C and onset types showed mostly low-pass response functions. In contrast, PL neurons showed mostly high-pass response functions, but one third displayed band-pass response functions. 4. The ability of ICc neurons to time-lock their discharges to the individual pulses in a train was characterized by using the synchronization coefficient (SC) as a measure. The SC was plotted against the repetition rate to construct units' synchronization-based response function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Charge-coupled device signal processing models and comparisons

CCD signal processing schemes attempt to reduce the effect of (KTC), 1/f, and broadband noise on the output signal. A number of schemes have been reported over the years. These schemes employ time delay and subtraction to eliminate KTC noise and attenuate 1/f noise. They also include a low-pass function to reduce the effect of broadband noise. Signal processing schemes include dual-slope integration, correlated-double sampling, a variation of correlated-double sampling referred to as switchedexponential filtering, and transversal filters. Signal processing that does not use delay and subtraction to eliminate KTC noise is also discussed. A consistent technique is used to analyze the various processing schemes. Transfer functions for signal and noise are presented for each. Performance comparisons are given with emphasis on their applicability to relatively high speed CCD readout applications (readout rates of 1 Mpixel/s and faster).

Detecting and discriminating the direction of motion of luminance and colour gratings

Human observers were required to discriminate the direction of motion of vertically moving, 1 c/deg luminance and colour gratings. The gratings had different contrasts and moved at temporal frequencies between 0.5 and 32 Hz. Sensitivity [the reciprocal of the contrast at which performance reached 75% correct in a temporal two-alternative forced-choice (2 AFC) discrimination task] was a band-pass function of temporal frequency for luminance gratings, and a low-pass function of temporal frequency for colour gratings. Further, when colour contrast was expressed in terms of the modulation in cone excitation produced by the stimulus, sensitivity to colour gratings was greater than sensitivity to luminance gratings at frequencies below 2 Hz. On the other hand, at temporal frequencies above 4 Hz, sensitivity to colour gratings was comparable with sensitivity to luminance gratings of double the temporal frequency. Detection sensitivity was measured for luminance and colour gratings of 1, 4 and 16 Hz. With either colour or luminance gratings, detection thresholds were very similar to those for direction-of-motion discrimination. This result confirms findings of Mullen and Boulton [(1992) Vision Research, 32, 483–488] and Cavanagh and Anstis [(1991) Vision Research, 31, 2109–2148], but is different from that reported by Lindsey and Teller [(1990) Vision Research, 30,1751–1761] who used a smaller stimulus seen in a parafoveal region and found that motion discrimination thresholds were higher than detection threshold for colour gratings. We repeated our threshold measurements using parafoveal viewing conditions similar to those used by Lindsey and Teller (1990). We found that, although for luminance gratings detection thresholds were very close to direction-discrimination thresholds, for colour gratings, they were lower. The result is in qualitative agreement with Lindsey and Teller (1990). Our results suggest that low-level, or “first-order” motion mechanisms are not as sensitive to chromatic gratings as are colour-detection mechanisms.