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Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Topographical Estimation of Visual Population Receptive Fields by fMRI
Published on: February 3, 2015
Characterizing the spatial-frequency sensitivity of perceptual templates
1Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90089-1061, USA. zhonglin@rcf.usc.edu
Abstract:
Filtered external noise has been an important tool in characterizing the spatial-frequency sensitivity of perceptual templates. Typically, low-pass- and/or high-pass-filtered external noise is added to the signal stimulus. Thresholds, the signal energy necessary to maintain given criterion performance levels, are measured as functions of the spatial-frequency passband of the external noise. An observer model is postulated to segregate the impact of the external noise and the internal noise. The spatial-frequency sensitivity of the perceptual template is determined by the relative impact exerted by external noise in each frequency band. The perceptual template model (PTM) is a general observer model that provides an excellent account of human performance in white external noise [Vision Res. 38, 1183 (1998); J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 16, 764 (1999)]. We further develop the PTM for filtered external noise and apply it to derive the spatial-frequency sensitivity of perceptual templates.
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