The Role of MT Neuron Receptive Field Surrounds in Computing Object Shape from Velocity Fields

Hoever, the relation between our ability to perceive structure in stimuli, simulating 3-D objects, and neuronal properties has not been addressed up to date. Here we discuss a possibility, that area MT RF surrounds might be involved in shape-frommotion perception. We introduce a simplifying model of MT neurons and analyse the implications to SFM problem solving. 2 REDEFINING THE SFM PROBLEM 2.1 RELATIVE MOTION AS A CUE FOR RELATIVE DEPTH Since Helmholtz motion parallax is known to be a powerful cue providing information about both the structure of the surrounding environment and the direction of self-motion. On the other hand, moving objects also induce velocity fields allowing judgement about their shapes. We can capture both cases by assuming that an observer is tracking a point on a surface of interest.