PSY280H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Spatial Frequency, Electrophysiology, Ganglion

• School: UTSG
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY280H1
• Professor: Professor Mack

Document Summary

Selective adaptation: evidence that human visual system contains neurons selective for spatial frequency. Adaptation suggests orientation and spatial frequency are coded by neurons in the human visual system: Cats, monkeys: electrophysiological recordings show this is in striate cortex, not in retina or lgn. Humans show selective adaptation behaviourally that matches cell properties in cats and monkeys. Observing adaptation means that a group of neurons were coding stimulus and got fatigued. Excellent method for mapping out what the visual system is sensitive to in living species. Young children are not very sensitive to high spatial frequencies, because visual system is still developing. Cones and rods develop and organize after birth. Retinal ganglion cells are still migrating and growing connections with the fovea. Fovea not fully developed until about 4 years old. Infants prefer to look at more complex stimuli: preferential-looking paradigm. Visual evoked potentials: electrical signals from the brain that are evoked by visual stimuli.