Resolving visual motion through perceptual gaps

Trends Cogn Sci. 2021 Nov;25(11):978-991. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.017. Epub 2021 Sep 3.

Abstract

Perceptual gaps can be caused by objects in the foreground temporarily occluding objects in the background or by eyeblinks, which briefly but frequently interrupt visual information. Resolving visual motion across perceptual gaps is particularly challenging, as object position changes during the gap. We examine how visual motion is maintained and updated through externally driven (occlusion) and internally driven (eyeblinks) perceptual gaps. Focusing on both phenomenology and potential mechanisms such as suppression, extrapolation, and integration, we present a framework for how perceptual gaps are resolved over space and time. We finish by highlighting critical questions and directions for future work.

Keywords: extrapolation; eyeblinks; motion; occlusion; prediction; suppression.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Motion Perception*