Lateral inhibition in amblyopia: Ver and metacontrast

✍ Scribed by Theodore Lawwill

• Book ID: 104644153
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1973
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 694 KB
• Volume: 34
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0012-4486
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00151812

✦ Synopsis

One of the visual processing functions which appears to be defective in functional amblyopia is contrast enhancement. This function is thought to be dependent, in part, upon lateral inhibition, which has been shown by previous authors to be abnormal in amblyopia. The phenomenon of metacontrast has been thought to rest also on lateral inhibition. Therefore, we have ,examined metacontrast psychophysically and electrophysiologically in functional amblyopia. Contrary to our predictions, there is no gross difference in the psychophysical or visual evoked response parameters between the normal and amblyopic eye. It has also been noted that the visual evoked response to a phenomenally masked target is not changed in amplitude nor implicit time from a non-masked target.

INTRODUC'[ION

Visual Masking

Visual masking is the effect upon a visual stimulus by a second visual stimulus presented in close temporal proximity to the first. The test stimulus may be