Aging alters surround modulation of perceived contrast

Abstract

It is well established that many visual functions deteriorate with age. Perhaps counter-intuitively, a recent study revealed that older people actually require less time to discriminate the direction of motion of large, high contrast moving stimuli than young adults (L. R. Betts, C. P. Taylor, A. B. Sekuler, & P. J. Bennett, 2005). L. R. Betts et al. (2005) proposed their finding as evidence for a reduction of cortical inhibitory function within the aging visual system. There is some neurophysiological support for this suggestion, as broadening of visual cortical neural tuning consistent with reduced inhibitory function has been observed in older animals. Here we explore the perceptual conse..