کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
6203344 1603192 2014 7 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Stimulus motion improves spatial contrast sensitivity in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus)
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علم عصب شناسی سیستم های حسی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Stimulus motion improves spatial contrast sensitivity in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus)
چکیده انگلیسی


- Budgerigars have higher contrast sensitivity for drifting than stationary gratings.
- Movement improves contrast sensitivity of these birds at all spatial frequencies.
- Contrast sensitivity tested with stationary stimuli underestimates bird vision.

Birds are generally thought to have excellent vision with high spatial resolution. However, spatial contrast sensitivity of birds for stationary targets is low compared to other animals with similar acuity, such as mammals. For fast flying animals body stability and coordination are highly important, and visual motion cues are known to be relevant for flight control. We have tested five budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) in behavioural discrimination experiments to determine whether or not stimulus motion improves contrast sensitivity. The birds were trained to distinguish between a homogenous grey field and sine-wave gratings of spatial frequencies between 0.48 and 6.5 cyc/deg, and Michelson contrasts between 0.7% and 99%. The gratings were either stationary or drifting with velocities between 0.9 and 13 deg/s. Budgerigars were able to discriminate patterns of lower contrast from grey when the gratings were drifting, and the improvement in sensitivity was strongest at lower spatial frequencies and higher drift velocities. Our findings indicate that motion cues can have positive effects on visual perception of birds. This is similar to earlier results on human vision. Contrast sensitivity, tested solely with stationary stimuli, underestimates the sensory capacity of budgerigars flying through their natural environments.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Vision Research - Volume 102, September 2014, Pages 19-25
نویسندگان
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