Cyclopean motion perception produced by oscillations of size, disparity and location

For cyclopean and monocularly-visible targets we measured psychophysical thresholds for perceptions produced by the following three stimuli: oscillations of disparity (DO), oscillations of size (SO) and oscillatory motion within the frontoparallel plane (FPO).

thresholds for motion in depth perception produced by DO were similar for cyclopean and non-cyclopean targets over the entire 0.25-8 Hz frequency range investigated. Thresholds for perceiving motion in depth produced by SO were considerably (up to 2.5 times) higher for cyclopean targets than for monocularly-visible targets, as were thresholds for perceiving size oscillations. For both cyclopean and monocularly-visible target the perception of motion in depth could be canceled by pitting DO vs SO. Thresholds for perceiving FPO were similar to DO thresholds for the monocularly-visible target, but for the cyclopean targets FPO thresholds rose more steeply than DO thresholds for oscillation frequencies above 1 Hz.

(1) for our subjects, the effective binocular stimulus for motion in depth perception is a rate of change of disparity; an interocular velocity difference is significant only to the extent that it produces a rate of change of disparity. (2) The sensations of motion in depth produced by DO and SO are qualitatively identical. (3) Neural signals produced by DO and SO converge onto a single neural mechanism that signals motion in depth.