1. Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas, Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Suite 7.046, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
3. Department of Philosophy, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
4. Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA

Correspondence to: David M. Eagleman^1,2John E. Jacobson^2,3 Email: david.eagleman@uth.tmc.edu
Email: jacobson@salk.edu

Abstract

Brightness—the perception of an object's luminance—arises from complex and poorly understood interactions at several levels of processing¹. It is well known that the brightness of an object depends on its spatial context², which can include perceptual organization³, scene interpretation⁴, three-dimensional interpretation⁵, shadows⁶, and other high-level percepts. Here we present a new class of illusion in which temporal relations with spatially neighbouring objects can modulate a target object's brightness. When compared with a nearby patch of constant luminance, a brief flash appears brighter with increasing onset asynchrony. Simultaneous contrast, retinal effects, masking, apparent motion and attentional effects cannot account for this illusory enhancement of brightness. This temporal context effect indicates that two parallel streams—one adapting and one non-adapting—encode brightness in the visual cortex.

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.