RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Spatial frequency adaptation modulates population receptive field sizes JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2024.06.06.597811 DO 10.1101/2024.06.06.597811 A1 Altan, Ecem A1 Morgan, Catherine A1 Dakin, Steven A1 Schwarzkopf, D. Samuel YR 2024 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2024/06/17/2024.06.06.597811.abstract AB The spatial tuning of neuronal populations in the early visual cortical regions is related to the spatial frequency (SF) selectivity of neurons. However, there has been no direct investigation into how this relationship is reflected in population receptive field (pRF) sizes despite the common application of pRF mapping in visual neuroscience. We hypothesised that adaptation to high/low SF would decrease the sensitivity of neurons with respectively small/large receptive field sizes, resulting in a change in pRF sizes as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To test this hypothesis, we first quantified the SF aftereffect using a psychophysical paradigm where observers made SF judgments following adaptation to high/low SF noise patterns. We then incorporated the same adaptation technique into a standard pRF mapping procedure, to investigate the spatial tuning of the early visual cortex following SF adaptation. Results showed that adaptation to a low/high SF resulted in smaller/larger pRFs respectively, as hypothesised. Our results provide the most direct evidence to date that the spatial tuning of the visual cortex, as measured by pRF mapping, is related to the SF selectivity of visual neural populations. This has implications for various domains of visual processing, including size perception and visual acuity.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.