A crash in visual processing: Interference between feedforward and feedback of successive targets limits detection
Jacob G Martin1, Patrick H Cox1, Clara A Scholl1
1Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Neuroscience, Washington, DC, USA.
Journal of Vision
|October 24, 2019
Summary
Visual target detection suffers when targets appear rapidly due to interference between top-down feedback and bottom-up processing. Reducing this neural processing interference significantly improves human performance.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The human visual system processes rapidly presented images, but performance declines with successive targets.
- Previous research highlights the importance of feedback signals in visual detection.
- Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) tasks reveal limitations in visual processing capacity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that impaired target detection in rapid succession results from interference between top-down feedback and bottom-up feedforward processing.
- To elucidate the role of neural processing interference in visual detection deficits.
- To determine how modulating this interference impacts human performance.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigms to present multiple targets at high rates.
- Measuring target detection and categorization accuracy under varying temporal conditions.
- Experimentally manipulating the interference between feedforward and feedback neural signals.
Main Results:
- Neural processing "crash" observed, affecting both detection and categorization of successive targets.
- Significant performance improvements in target detection when interference between feedforward and feedback signals was reduced.
- Evidence supporting the detrimental impact of top-down feedback interference on bottom-up processing.
Conclusions:
- Top-down re-entrant feedback signals play a critical role in visual detection.
- Interference between feedback and feedforward processing is a key determinant of performance limitations in successive visual target detection.
- Findings have implications for understanding attentional capacity, consciousness, and learning mechanisms.
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