Optimal speed estimation in natural image movies predicts human performance.

ABSTRACT: Accurate perception of motion depends critically on accurate estimation of retinal motion speed. Here we first analyse natural image movies to determine the optimal space-time receptive fields (RFs) for encoding local motion speed in a particular direction, given the constraints of the early visual system. Next, from the RF responses to natural stimuli, we determine the neural computations that are optimal for combining and decoding the responses into estimates of speed. The computations show how selective, invariant speed-tuned units might be constructed by the nervous system. Then, in a psychophysical experiment using matched stimuli, we show that human performance is nearly optimal. Indeed, a single efficiency parameter accurately predicts the detailed shapes of a large set of human psy

SUBMITTER: Burge J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4532855 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature