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Perceived luminance depends on temporal context

Nature volume 428, pages 854–856 (2004)Cite this article

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.

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Figure 1: The temporal context effect.
Figure 2: Only the brief flash changes perceptually.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Holcombe, S. Anstis, X. Huang and M. Fallah for feedback. This research was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (D.M.E. and T.J.S.) and a grant from the Chapman Foundation and NSF IGERT (J.E.J.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas, Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Suite 7.046, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    David M. Eagleman

  2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California, 92037, USA

    David M. Eagleman, John E. Jacobson & Terrence J. Sejnowski

  3. Department of Philosophy, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    John E. Jacobson

  4. Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Terrence J. Sejnowski

Authors
  1. David M. Eagleman
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  2. John E. Jacobson
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  3. Terrence J. Sejnowski
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to David M. Eagleman or John E. Jacobson.

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The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Discussions

1. Suggested model for the Temporal Context Effect. 2. What happens when the two flashes are not simultaneously present (containing Supplementary Figures 1 and 2). (DOC 699 kb)

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Eagleman, D., Jacobson, J. & Sejnowski, T. Perceived luminance depends on temporal context. Nature 428, 854–856 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02467

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