Orientation-specific aftereffects to mentally generated lines.

After staring at a pattern of tilted lines, subsequent lines appear to be tilted in the opposite direction (direct tilt aftereffect, TAE). In a previous fMRI study we have demonstrated a direct TAE solely induced by the mental imagination accompanied by adaptation of orientation-selective neurons located in the extrastriate cortex, supporting the assumption of a perception-like coding of mental images. In this study we enlarge and specify the evidence for a perception-like coding of orientation-imagination.

Altered mental number line in amblyopia--reduced pseudoneglect corresponds to a decreased bias in number estimation.

Amblyopic subjects show a wide range of changes within the visual system, starting from deficits in simple perceptual processing up to changes of higher functions of the visual dorsal pathway. Recent studies suggest that subjects with amblyopia also demonstrate alterations in visuo-spatial attention. In contrast to normal sighted subjects, who demonstrate a leftward bias ("pseudoneglect") during physical line-bisection, amblyopic subjects show a rightward bias ("minineglect").

Methods for dichoptic stimulus presentation in functional magnetic resonance imaging - a review.

Dichoptic stimuli (different stimuli displayed to each eye) are increasingly being used in functional brain imaging experiments using visual stimulation. These studies include investigation into binocular rivalry, interocular information transfer, three-dimensional depth perception as well as impairments of the visual system like amblyopia and stereodeficiency. In this paper, we review various approaches of displaying dichoptic stimulus used in functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments.

The development of neural synchrony reflects late maturation and restructuring of functional networks in humans.

Brain development is characterized by maturational processes that span the period from childhood through adolescence to adulthood, but little is known whether and how developmental processes differ during these phases. We analyzed the development of functional networks by measuring neural synchrony in EEG recordings during a Gestalt perception task in 68 participants ranging in age from 6 to 21 years. Until early adolescence, developmental improvements in cognitive performance were accompanied by increases in neural synchrony.

Interocular transfer of orientation-specific fMRI adaptation reveals amblyopia-related deficits in humans.

We devised an experimental strategy for assessing the cortical cross-talk between ocular subsystems. For this purpose we measured the interocular transfer of adaptation (IOTA) at different levels in the human brain, using orientation-selective fMRI adaptation. We tested 10 normally sighted and 10 stereoblind or stereodeficient amblyopic observers by adapting monocularly to phase-reversing, oblique sinusoidal gratings.