Contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration

Abstract Macular degeneration (MD) is the leading cause of low vision in the elderly population worldwide. In case of complete bilateral loss of central vision, MD patients start to show a preferred retinal region for fixation (PRL). Previous literature has reported functional changes that are conne...

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Autores principales: Giulio Contemori, Luca Battaglini, Clara Casco
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Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2019
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:6039016c3c1548d6aed84912430547972021-12-02T15:08:21ZContextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration10.1038/s41598-019-45648-42045-2322https://doaj.org/article/6039016c3c1548d6aed84912430547972019-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45648-4https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Macular degeneration (MD) is the leading cause of low vision in the elderly population worldwide. In case of complete bilateral loss of central vision, MD patients start to show a preferred retinal region for fixation (PRL). Previous literature has reported functional changes that are connected with the emergence of the PRL. In this paper, we question whether the PRL undergoes a use-dependent cortical reorganization that alters the range of spatial lateral interactions between low-level filters. We asked whether there is a modulation of the excitatory/inhibitory lateral interactions or whether contextual influences are well accounted for by the same law that describes the integration response in normal viewers. In a group of 13 MD patients and 7 age-matched controls, we probed contextual influences by measuring the contrast threshold for a vertical target Gabor, flanked by two collinear high-contrast Gabors. Contextual influences of the collinear flankers were indicated by the changes in contrast threshold obtained at different target-to-flanker distances (λs) relative to the baseline orthogonal condition. Results showed that MDs had higher thresholds in the baseline condition and functional impairment in the identification tasks. Moreover, at the shortest λ, we found facilitatory rather than inhibitory contextual influence. No difference was found between the PRL and a symmetrical retinal position (non-PRL). By pulling together data from MD and controls we showed that in the periphery this inversion occurs when the target threshold approach the flankers’ contrast (about 1:3 ratio) and that for patients it does occur in both the PRL and a symmetrical retinal position (non-PRL). We conclude that contrary to previous interpretations, this modulation doesn’t seem to reflect use-dependent cortical reorganization but rather, it might result from a reduction of contrast gain for the target that promotes target-flankers grouping.Giulio ContemoriLuca BattagliniClara CascoNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2019)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Giulio Contemori
Luca Battaglini
Clara Casco
Contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration
description Abstract Macular degeneration (MD) is the leading cause of low vision in the elderly population worldwide. In case of complete bilateral loss of central vision, MD patients start to show a preferred retinal region for fixation (PRL). Previous literature has reported functional changes that are connected with the emergence of the PRL. In this paper, we question whether the PRL undergoes a use-dependent cortical reorganization that alters the range of spatial lateral interactions between low-level filters. We asked whether there is a modulation of the excitatory/inhibitory lateral interactions or whether contextual influences are well accounted for by the same law that describes the integration response in normal viewers. In a group of 13 MD patients and 7 age-matched controls, we probed contextual influences by measuring the contrast threshold for a vertical target Gabor, flanked by two collinear high-contrast Gabors. Contextual influences of the collinear flankers were indicated by the changes in contrast threshold obtained at different target-to-flanker distances (λs) relative to the baseline orthogonal condition. Results showed that MDs had higher thresholds in the baseline condition and functional impairment in the identification tasks. Moreover, at the shortest λ, we found facilitatory rather than inhibitory contextual influence. No difference was found between the PRL and a symmetrical retinal position (non-PRL). By pulling together data from MD and controls we showed that in the periphery this inversion occurs when the target threshold approach the flankers’ contrast (about 1:3 ratio) and that for patients it does occur in both the PRL and a symmetrical retinal position (non-PRL). We conclude that contrary to previous interpretations, this modulation doesn’t seem to reflect use-dependent cortical reorganization but rather, it might result from a reduction of contrast gain for the target that promotes target-flankers grouping.
format article
author Giulio Contemori
Luca Battaglini
Clara Casco
author_facet Giulio Contemori
Luca Battaglini
Clara Casco
author_sort Giulio Contemori
title Contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration
title_short Contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration
title_full Contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration
title_fullStr Contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration
title_full_unstemmed Contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration
title_sort contextual influences in the peripheral retina of patients with macular degeneration
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2019
url https://doaj.org/article/6039016c3c1548d6aed8491243054797
work_keys_str_mv AT giuliocontemori contextualinfluencesintheperipheralretinaofpatientswithmaculardegeneration
AT lucabattaglini contextualinfluencesintheperipheralretinaofpatientswithmaculardegeneration
AT claracasco contextualinfluencesintheperipheralretinaofpatientswithmaculardegeneration
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