Roles of visual and non-visual information in the perception of scene-relative object motion during walking

J Vis. 2020 Oct 1;20(10):15. doi: 10.1167/jov.20.10.15.

Abstract

Perceiving object motion during self-movement is an essential ability of humans. Previous studies have reported that the visual system can use both visual information (such as optic flow) and non-visual information (such as vestibular, somatosensory, and proprioceptive information) to identify and globally subtract the retinal motion component due to self-movement to recover scene-relative object motion. In this study, we used a motion-nulling method to directly measure and quantify the contribution of visual and non-visual information to the perception of scene-relative object motion during walking. We found that about 50% of the retinal motion component of the probe due to translational self-movement was removed with non-visual information alone and about 80% with visual information alone. With combined visual and non-visual information, the self-movement component was removed almost completely. Although non-visual information played an important role in the removal of self-movement-induced retinal motion, it was associated with decreased precision of probe motion estimates. We conclude that neither non-visual nor visual information alone is sufficient for the accurate perception of scene-relative object motion during walking, which instead requires the integration of both sources of information.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • Form Perception / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Processes / physiology*
  • Motion Perception / physiology*
  • Optic Flow
  • Retina / physiology*
  • Visual Perception
  • Walking / physiology*
  • Young Adult