The speed of sight

J Cogn Neurosci. 2001 Jan 1;13(1):90-101. doi: 10.1162/089892901564199.

Abstract

Macaque monkeys were presented with continuous rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequences of unrelated naturalistic images at rates of 14--222 msec/image, while neurons that responded selectively to complex patterns (e.g., faces) were recorded in temporal cortex. Stimulus selectivity was preserved for 65% of these neurons even at surprisingly fast presentation rates (14 msec/image or 72 images/sec). Five human subjects were asked to detect or remember images under equivalent conditions. Their performance in both tasks was above chance at all rates (14--111 msec/image). The performance of single neurons was comparable to that of humans and responded in a similar way to changes in presentation rate. The implications for the role of temporal cortex cells in perception are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Attention / physiology
  • Brain Mapping
  • Discrimination, Psychological / physiology
  • Fixation, Ocular
  • Humans
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Memory / physiology*
  • Models, Neurological
  • Models, Psychological
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual / physiology*
  • Psychophysics
  • Reaction Time / physiology*
  • Temporal Lobe / physiology*
  • Vision, Ocular / physiology*
  • Visual Perception / physiology*