Polarization vision mitigates visual noise from flickering light underwater
Venables, Siân Vincent ; Drerup, Christian ; Powell, Samuel B. ; Marshall, N. Justin ; Herbert-Read, James E. LU
and How, Martin J.
(2022)
In Science Advances
8(36).
- Abstract
In shallow water, downwelling light is refracted from surface waves onto the substrate creating bands of light that fluctuate in both time and space, known as caustics. This dynamic illumination can be a visual hindrance for animals in shallow underwater environments. Animals in such habitats may have evolved to use polarization vision for discriminating objects while ignoring the variations in illumination caused by caustics. To explore this possibility, crabs (Carcinus maenas) and cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), both of which have polarization vision, were presented with moving stimuli overlaid with caustics. Dynamic caustics inhibited the detection of an intensity-based stimulus but not when these stimuli were polarized. This study... (More)
In shallow water, downwelling light is refracted from surface waves onto the substrate creating bands of light that fluctuate in both time and space, known as caustics. This dynamic illumination can be a visual hindrance for animals in shallow underwater environments. Animals in such habitats may have evolved to use polarization vision for discriminating objects while ignoring the variations in illumination caused by caustics. To explore this possibility, crabs (Carcinus maenas) and cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), both of which have polarization vision, were presented with moving stimuli overlaid with caustics. Dynamic caustics inhibited the detection of an intensity-based stimulus but not when these stimuli were polarized. This study is the first to demonstrate that polarization vision reduces the negative impacts that dynamic illumination can have on visual perception.
(Less)
- author
- Venables, Siân Vincent
; Drerup, Christian
; Powell, Samuel B.
; Marshall, N. Justin
; Herbert-Read, James E.
LU
and How, Martin J.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-09-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Science Advances
- volume
- 8
- issue
- 36
- article number
- eabq2770
- publisher
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:36083913
- scopus:85138128286
- ISSN
- 2375-2548
- DOI
- 10.1126/sciadv.abq2770
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a141f905-c534-4769-b119-eaa86d0a689e
- date added to LUP
- 2022-12-01 14:08:23
- date last changed
- 2024-06-13 09:47:23
@article{a141f905-c534-4769-b119-eaa86d0a689e,
abstract = {{<p>In shallow water, downwelling light is refracted from surface waves onto the substrate creating bands of light that fluctuate in both time and space, known as caustics. This dynamic illumination can be a visual hindrance for animals in shallow underwater environments. Animals in such habitats may have evolved to use polarization vision for discriminating objects while ignoring the variations in illumination caused by caustics. To explore this possibility, crabs (Carcinus maenas) and cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), both of which have polarization vision, were presented with moving stimuli overlaid with caustics. Dynamic caustics inhibited the detection of an intensity-based stimulus but not when these stimuli were polarized. This study is the first to demonstrate that polarization vision reduces the negative impacts that dynamic illumination can have on visual perception.</p>}},
author = {{Venables, Siân Vincent and Drerup, Christian and Powell, Samuel B. and Marshall, N. Justin and Herbert-Read, James E. and How, Martin J.}},
issn = {{2375-2548}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{09}},
number = {{36}},
publisher = {{American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}},
series = {{Science Advances}},
title = {{Polarization vision mitigates visual noise from flickering light underwater}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq2770}},
doi = {{10.1126/sciadv.abq2770}},
volume = {{8}},
year = {{2022}},
}