Critical bands in cat spatial vision

Abstract

1. The ability of cats to detect sinusoidal grating patterns superimposed on one-dimensional visual noise was assessed using behavioural methods. 2. The magnitude of elevation in contrast threshold due to noise increased monotonically within limits with increasing noise contrast. 3. Visual noise was filtered using various techniques (band-reject, low-pass, high-pass and band-pass noise); filtered noise resulted in threshold elevation only when it contained frequencies similar to the test frequency. 4. In all cases the masking functions indicated that the band widths of the channels mediating detection ranged from +/- 0.50 to +/- 0.75 octaves across three spatial frequencies and that the channel sensitive to low spatial frequencies was asymmetrical in its tuning. 5. The spatial properties of these psychophysical detecting channels closely resemble the spatial frequency selectivity exhibited by some cat cortical neurones, both in the general narrowness of tuning and the asymmetry in tuning at lower, but not higher, spatial frequencies.