Polar angle asymmetries in visual perception and neural architecture

Human visual performance changes with visual field location. It is best at the cen-ter of gaze and declines with eccentricity, and also varies markedly with polar angle. These perceptual polar angle asymmetries are linked to asymmetries in the organization of the visual system. We review and integrate research quantify-ing how performance changes with visual field location and how this relates to neural organization at multiple stages of the visual system. We first briefly review how performance varies with eccentricity and the neural foundations of this effect. We then focus on perceptual polar angle asymmetries and their neural founda-tions. Characterizing perceptual and neural variations across and around the vi-sual field contributes to our understanding of how the brain translates visual signals into neural representations which form the basis of visual perception.

Automated summary

Human visual performance varies with visual field location, with the best performance observed at the center of gaze and a decline in performance as eccentricity increases. There are also notable variations in performance depending on the polar angle. These polar angle asymmetries in perception are related to asymmetries in the organization of the visual system. By quantifying how performance changes with visual field location and understanding the neural foundations, we can gain insights into how the brain processes visual information and forms visual perception.