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Adaptation to three-dimensional distortions in human vision

Nature Neuroscience volume 4, pages 1063–1064 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

When people get new glasses, they often experience distortions in the apparent three-dimensional layout of the environment; the distortions fade away in a week or so. Here we asked observers to wear a horizontal magnifier in front of one eye for several days, causing them to initially perceive large three-dimensional distortions. We found that adaptation to the magnifier was not caused by changes in the weights given to disparity and texture, or by monocular adaptation, but rather by a change in the mapping between retinal disparity and perceived slant.

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Figure 1: Stimuli.
Figure 2: Disparity adaptation.
Figure 3: Strong binocular and weak monocular adaptation.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by NSF (DBS-9309820), AFOSR (93NL366), NIH (T32 EY07043-21), and Royal Netherlands Academy. We thank M. Landy for discussions, G. Lee for advice on lens manufacturing, and all participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, 58 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QB, Scotland, UK

    Wendy J. Adams

  2. School of Optometry and Vision Science Program, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-2020, California, USA

    Martin S. Banks

  3. Helmholtz Institute, PrincetonPlein 5, Utrecht, 3584CC, The Netherlands

    Raymond van Ee

Authors
  1. Wendy J. Adams
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  2. Martin S. Banks
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  3. Raymond van Ee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin S. Banks.

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Adams, W., Banks, M. & van Ee, R. Adaptation to three-dimensional distortions in human vision. Nat Neurosci 4, 1063–1064 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn729

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