SCIENTISTS may have finally solved the mystery behind the illusion of simultaneous contrast.
This describes a type of optical illusion that tricks the eye into seeing one gray band brighter than the other.
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Scientists may have finally solved the mystery behind the illusion of simultaneous contrast Credit: Jolyon Troscianko
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Simultaneous Contrast Illusion ExampleCredit: Jolyon Troscianko
One of the most popular versions of this illusion consists of an image showing black bars set against a white background.
There is a smaller gray band on either side of the image, with the one on the left looking darker than the one on the right.
Although the two gray bars in the image are the same shade of gray, our mind perceives them as different.
Now a team of researchers from the University of Exeter may have solved the mystery of why this happens.
The team’s findings were published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.
They claim that the illusion is caused by the limited permeability of the human eye.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers developed a computer model that mimics the way the human eye perceives images.
However, in the presence of high contrasts, they observed that the model was overstimulated and its visual perception was distorted.
“Our model shows how neurons with such limited contrast bandwidth can combine their signals to allow us to see these huge contrasts, but the information is ‘compressed’, resulting in visual illusions,” Dr. Jolyon Troscianko, one of the study authors, told Science. Focus.
“For example, some neurons are sensitive to very small differences in gray levels at medium sizes [ranges]but they are easily overwhelmed by high contrasts,” said Dr. Troscianko.
“Meanwhile, neurons that encode contrasts on a larger or smaller scale are much less sensitive, but can operate on a much wider range of contrasts, producing profound black-and-white differences,” he added.
The new findings challenge many long-held assumptions about how visual illusions work, Dr. Troscianko noted.
Furthermore, the new study provides a deeper understanding of how this illusion, and potentially others, works.
Studies like this could also help us develop new ways to improve visual perception.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education