The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood
Aging is associated with declines in various visual functions, including visual processing in the temporal domain. However, how visual processing in the temporal domain changes throughout adulthood remains unclear. To address this, we recruited 30 adults aged 20 to 70 years. By systematically manipu...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1547959/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849344290177679360 |
|---|---|
| author | Xianghang He Xiaowei Ruan Menglu Shen Junli Yuan Cheng Li Yan Yang Jinli Zhu Rong Cui Rong Cui Zhong-Lin Lu Zhong-Lin Lu Zhong-Lin Lu Jiang-Fan Chen Fang Hou |
| author_facet | Xianghang He Xiaowei Ruan Menglu Shen Junli Yuan Cheng Li Yan Yang Jinli Zhu Rong Cui Rong Cui Zhong-Lin Lu Zhong-Lin Lu Zhong-Lin Lu Jiang-Fan Chen Fang Hou |
| author_sort | Xianghang He |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aging is associated with declines in various visual functions, including visual processing in the temporal domain. However, how visual processing in the temporal domain changes throughout adulthood remains unclear. To address this, we recruited 30 adults aged 20 to 70 years. By systematically manipulating the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of external noise masks, we measured contrast thresholds in an orientation discrimination task across five SOA conditions and one no mask condition. We hypothesized that the threshold would change with age, and that this change would depend on the SOA condition. Our results showed that thresholds increased with age at all SOA conditions, except for the no mask condition. To further explore temporal processing dynamics, we applied the elaborated perceptual template model to the contrast thresholds, which allowed us to extract the temporal processing window—describing how visual processing efficiency varies over time. The model provided a good fit to the data for all participants. We then extracted the peak and full width at half maximum (FWHH) of the processing window, reflecting the maximum efficiency and temporal extend of processing window, respectively, from the best-fit model for each participant. Regression analysis revealed that the peak decreased, while the FWHH increased with age, indicating that the temporal window of visual processing became wider and less efficient as age increased. Our cross-sectional study suggests that our ability to process dynamic visual information gradually declines with age in two significant ways: a decrease in peak efficiency and increased vulnerability to temporal disturbances. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c6509afad8174e9cbc50c6d0cfdec57e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-c6509afad8174e9cbc50c6d0cfdec57e2025-08-20T03:42:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2025-03-011910.3389/fnins.2025.15479591547959The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthoodXianghang He0Xiaowei Ruan1Menglu Shen2Junli Yuan3Cheng Li4Yan Yang5Jinli Zhu6Rong Cui7Rong Cui8Zhong-Lin Lu9Zhong-Lin Lu10Zhong-Lin Lu11Jiang-Fan Chen12Fang Hou13The Eye and Brain Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, ChinaNational Engineering Research Center of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaSchool of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaSchool of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaSchool of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaSchool of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaSchool of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaSchool of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaRysm Bio Limited, Shenzhen, ChinaDivision of Arts and Sciences, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaCenter for Neural Science and Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesNYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, ChinaThe Eye and Brain Center, State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, ChinaNational Engineering Research Center of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, ChinaAging is associated with declines in various visual functions, including visual processing in the temporal domain. However, how visual processing in the temporal domain changes throughout adulthood remains unclear. To address this, we recruited 30 adults aged 20 to 70 years. By systematically manipulating the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of external noise masks, we measured contrast thresholds in an orientation discrimination task across five SOA conditions and one no mask condition. We hypothesized that the threshold would change with age, and that this change would depend on the SOA condition. Our results showed that thresholds increased with age at all SOA conditions, except for the no mask condition. To further explore temporal processing dynamics, we applied the elaborated perceptual template model to the contrast thresholds, which allowed us to extract the temporal processing window—describing how visual processing efficiency varies over time. The model provided a good fit to the data for all participants. We then extracted the peak and full width at half maximum (FWHH) of the processing window, reflecting the maximum efficiency and temporal extend of processing window, respectively, from the best-fit model for each participant. Regression analysis revealed that the peak decreased, while the FWHH increased with age, indicating that the temporal window of visual processing became wider and less efficient as age increased. Our cross-sectional study suggests that our ability to process dynamic visual information gradually declines with age in two significant ways: a decrease in peak efficiency and increased vulnerability to temporal disturbances.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1547959/fullagingcontrast thresholdthe elaborated perceptual template modelexternal noisetemporal windowtemporal deficits |
| spellingShingle | Xianghang He Xiaowei Ruan Menglu Shen Junli Yuan Cheng Li Yan Yang Jinli Zhu Rong Cui Rong Cui Zhong-Lin Lu Zhong-Lin Lu Zhong-Lin Lu Jiang-Fan Chen Fang Hou The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood Frontiers in Neuroscience aging contrast threshold the elaborated perceptual template model external noise temporal window temporal deficits |
| title | The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood |
| title_full | The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood |
| title_fullStr | The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood |
| title_full_unstemmed | The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood |
| title_short | The temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood |
| title_sort | temporal window of visual processing throughout adulthood |
| topic | aging contrast threshold the elaborated perceptual template model external noise temporal window temporal deficits |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1547959/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xianghanghe thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT xiaoweiruan thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT menglushen thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT junliyuan thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT chengli thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT yanyang thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT jinlizhu thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT rongcui thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT rongcui thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT zhonglinlu thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT zhonglinlu thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT zhonglinlu thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT jiangfanchen thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT fanghou thetemporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT xianghanghe temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT xiaoweiruan temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT menglushen temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT junliyuan temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT chengli temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT yanyang temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT jinlizhu temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT rongcui temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT rongcui temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT zhonglinlu temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT zhonglinlu temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT zhonglinlu temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT jiangfanchen temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood AT fanghou temporalwindowofvisualprocessingthroughoutadulthood |