Featural Representation and Internal Noise Underlie the Eccentricity Effect in Contrast Sensitivity

Human visual performance for basic visual dimensions (e.g., contrast sensitivity and acuity) peaks at the fovea and decreases with eccentricity. The eccentricity effect is related to the larger visual cortical surface area corresponding to the fovea, but it is unknown if differential feature tuning contributes to this eccentricity effect. Here, we investigated two system-level computations underlying the eccentricity effect: featural representation (tuning) and internal noise. Observers (both sexes) detected a Gabor embedded in filtered white noise which appeared at the fovea or one of four perifoveal locations. We used psychophysical reverse correlation to estimate the weights assigned by the visual system to a range of orientations and spatial frequencies (SFs) in noisy stimuli, which are conventionally interpreted as perceptual sensitivity to the corresponding features. We found higher sensitivity to task-relevant orientations and SFs at the fovea than that at the perifovea, and no difference in selectivity for either orientation or SF. Concurrently, we measured response consistency using a double-pass method, which allowed us to infer the level of internal noise by implementing a noisy observer model. We found lower internal noise at the fovea than that at the perifovea. Finally, individual variability in contrast sensitivity correlated with sensitivity to and selectivity for task-relevant features as well as with internal noise. Moreover, the behavioral eccentricity effect mainly reflects the foveal advantage in orientation sensitivity compared with other computations. These findings suggest that the eccentricity effect stems from a better representation of task-relevant features and lower internal noise at the fovea than that at the perifovea.