Eccentricity-dependent scaling of the limits for short-range apparent motion perception

Abstract

The ability to report the direction of apparent motion when an array of random dots is displaced fails when the displacement exceeds a limiting value (dmax). We find that dmax increases rapidly with retinal eccentricity, in a manner different from spatial measures such as acuity which are believed to depend on the "magnification factor" of projection to area 17. The minimum displacement giving detectable motion (dmin) shows a shallower increase with eccentricity which is more compatible with the variation of cortical magnification. The dependence of apparent motion on the timing variables (exposure duration, inter-stimulus interval) changes negligibly with eccentricity. Consequently the dynamic range and the upper limit of detectable velocities increases greatly with eccentricity. The increase of dmax with eccentricity means that the perception of apparent motion will show an approximate invariance with display scale, even though dmax has a locally fixed value depending on receptive field structure.