The use of Near Infrared Spectroscopy in measuring haemodynamic response of the primary visual cortex to a visual bullseye stimulus with various spatial and temporal frequencies

Abstract

The effects of spatial and temporal frequencies of a visual, sinusoidal bullseye stimulus on haemodynamic responses in V1 were investigated using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Eight psychology undergraduates viewed a reversing bullseye pattern with differing spatial and temporal frequencies and haemodynamic responses in V1 were measured. It was found that optimum responses were recorded when the spatial frequency was 4.00 c/deg and when temporal frequency was 7.55 Hz; however no significant differences between frequencies were found. The mixed findings provided some support for past findings, implying that cells are finely tuned to detect certain stimulus properties, and demonstrated NIRS as a valid measuring tool in vision research. Future research needs to be conducted in order to improve the quality of the data.