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Do different 'magnocellular tasks' probe the same neural substrate?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 19:48 authored by Patrick T Goodbourn, Jenny BostenJenny Bosten, Ruth E Hogg, Gary Bargary, Adam J Lawrance-Owen, J D Mollon
The sensory abnormalities associated with disorders such as dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia have often been attributed to a generalized deficit in the visual magnocellular-dorsal stream and its auditory homologue. To probe magnocellular function, various psychophysical tasks are often employed that require the processing of rapidly changing stimuli. But is performance on these several tasks supported by a common substrate? To answer this question, we tested a cohort of 1060 individuals on four 'magnocellular tasks': detection of low-spatial-frequency gratings reversing in contrast at a high temporal frequency (so-called frequency-doubled gratings); detection of pulsed low-spatial-frequency gratings on a steady luminance pedestal; detection of coherent motion; and auditory discrimination of temporal order. Although all tasks showed test-retest reliability, only one pair shared more than 4 per cent of variance. Correlations within the set of 'magnocellular tasks' were similar to the correlations between those tasks and a 'non-magnocellular task', and there was little consistency between 'magnocellular deficit' groups comprising individuals with the lowest sensitivity for each task. Our results suggest that different 'magnocellular tasks' reflect different sources of variance, and thus are not general measures of 'magnocellular function'.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Proceedings B: Biological Sciences

ISSN

0962-8452

Publisher

Royal Society, The

Issue

1745

Volume

279

Page range

4263-71

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-01-27

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2015-01-27

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