The temporal range of motion sensing and motion perception

Apparent motion (AM) was studied using the missing-fundamental square-wave grating, displaced discretely over time. At inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs) greater than about 40 msec, AM was seen in the direction of displacement of the visible features of the pattern, while at shorter ISIs AM was seen in the reversed direction, following the displacement of the third harmonic spatial frequency component. This confirms (a) that the "long-range", feature-based process can bridge much greater time-gaps than the "short-range" motion sensors and (b) that the missing-fundamental pattern is a particularly useful tool for teasing the two processes apart.