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Abstract
Dynamic interactions between temporal and spatial frequency channels are crucial in visual processing. Recent studies have employed fast flicker adaptation (FFAd) to investigate the relationship between spatial and temporal vision, suggesting that FFAd primarily reduces sensitivity in the magnocellular (M) pathway at low spatial frequencies. Yet, the optimal conditions for FFAd and its neural mechanisms are not fully understood. We hypothesized that the M pathway’s sensitivity to FFAd would be maximally affected by high temporal and low spatial frequencies, and that FFAd’s impact on contrast discrimination would vary with the M pathway's response to different contrast levels. This study tested these hypotheses through three experiments, each designed to assess contrast discrimination following adaptation with flicker stimuli varying in (1) spatial contrasts, (2) spatial frequency components, and (3) temporal frequencies. Experiment 1 revealed that FFAd effects were most pronounced with high-contrast flicker. The findings emphasize the contrast response function derived from contrast discrimination tasks, offering a comprehensive view of function that enhances the insights from the contrast sensitivity function. Experiments 2 and 3 did not show significant effects of spatial or temporal frequencies, potentially due to flicker stimulus conditions. These results suggest FFAd’s potential as a significant tool for advancing our understanding of spatiotemporal vision.