The effect of mean luminance change and grating pedestals on contrast perception: Model simulations suggest a common, retinal, origin

The percept of a contrast target is substantially affected by co-occurring changes in mean luminance or underlying (“pedestal”) contrast elements. These two types of modulatory effects have traditionally been studied as separate phenomena. However, regardless of different higher-level mechanisms, both classes of phenomena will necessarily also depend on shared mechanisms in the first stages of vision, starting with the primary responses of photoreceptors. Here we present model simulations showing that important aspects of both classes may be explained by the temporal dynamics of photoreceptor responses read by integrate-and-fire operators. The model is physiologically justified and all its parameters are constrained by experimental evidence. Although there remains plenty of room for additional mechanisms to shape the exact quantitative realization of the perceptual functions in different situations, we suggest that signature features may be inherited from primary retinal signaling.

► We model the effects of mean luminance changes and contrast pedestals on contrast perception. ► The model is strictly constrained by known properties of the primate retina. ► The simulation results are in close agreement with relevant psychophysical data. ► The results suggest that the two effects have a common, retinal origin.