Abstract

Lateral spatial interactions in the visual nervous system are commonly adduced to account for a variety of simultaneous contrast (induction) phenomena with regard to the perception of both brightness¹ and spatial contrast.² The relationship of these two systems of lateral interaction has not been clarified. Available evidence suggests that the lateral interactions governing perceived contrast embody a form of multiplicative contrast gain control.² Evidence is presented that the lateral interactions governing brightness perception are similarly the result of multiplicative luminance-gain control, in addition to a subtractive (zero-offset) process. Utilizing the grating induction paradigm¹ in association with a contrast-matching procedure, the inducing grating spatial frequency was varied across a range of eight octaves (0.0625-16.0 c/d), encompassing a clear transition in the form of lateral interactions from ones based on a luminance-gain control mechanism to those based on a contrast-gain control mechanism.

© 1991 Optical Society of America