Border-ownership-dependent tilt aftereffect for shape defined by binocular disparity and motion parallax

ABSTRACT Discerning objects from their surrounds (i.e., figure-ground segmentation) in a way that guides adaptive behaviours is a fundamental task of the brain. Neurophysiological work has revealed a class of cells in the macaque visual cortex that may be ideally suited to support this neural computation: border-ownership cells (Zhou, Friedman, & von der Heydt, 2000). These orientation-tuned cells appear to respond conditionally to the borders of objects. A behavioural correlate supporting the existence of these cells in humans was demonstrated using two-dimensional luminance defined objects (von der Heydt, Macuda, & Qiu, 2005). However, objects in our natural visual environments are often signalled by complex cues, such as motion and depth order. Thus, for border-ownership systems to effectively support figure-ground segmentation and object depth ordering, they must have access to information from multiple depth cues with strict depth order selectivity. Here we measure in humans (of both sexes) border-ownership-dependent tilt aftereffects after adapting to figures defined by either motion parallax or binocular disparity. We find that both depth cues produce a tilt aftereffect that is selective for figure-ground depth order. Further, we find the effects of adaptation are transferable between cues, suggesting that these systems may combine depth cues to reduce uncertainty (Bülthoff & Mallot, 1988). These results suggest that border-ownership mechanisms have strict depth order selectivity and access to multiple depth cues that are jointly encoded, providing compelling psychophysical support for their role in figure-ground segmentation in natural visual environments. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSegmenting a visual object from its surrounds is a critical function that may be supported by “border-ownership” neural systems that conditionally respond to object borders. Psychophysical work indicates these systems are sensitive to objects defined by luminance contrast. To effectively support figure-ground segmentation, however, neural systems supporting border-ownership must have access to information from multiple depth cues and depth order selectivity. We measured border-ownership-dependent tilt aftereffects to figures defined by either motion parallax or binocular disparity and found aftereffects for both depth cues. These effects were transferable between cues, but selective for figure-ground depth order. Our results suggest that the neural systems supporting figure-ground segmentation have strict depth order selectivity and access to multiple depth cues that are jointly encoded.