Motion Perception in Central Field Loss

Abstract:

Healthy peripheral retina is exquisitely sensitive to fast speeds. Individuals with central field loss (CFL) typically only have residual peripheral vision and studies suggest they become adept at using peripheral motion information, as in the case of vection (Tarita-Nistor et al. 2008). However, we showed that smooth pursuit in CFL is impaired across a range of speeds and visual acuity cannot explain this decrement in performance (Shanidze et al. 2016). Thus, the question remains whether this deficiency is due to oculomotor limitations, or a potential impairment of peripheral motion processing, as indicated by Eisenbarth et al. 2007. I will show data comparing the ability of CFL participants, age-matched controls and young controls to discriminate speed and direction of motion in a two spatial alternative forced-choice design. Our results indicate that age is a much stronger predictor of motion discrimination performance and suggest that CFL participants’ deficits in smooth pursuit are likely not due to motion perception deficits.