Abstract
To interpret complex and ambiguous input, the human visual system uses prior knowledge or assumptions about the world. We show that the 'light-from-above' prior, used to extract information about shape from shading is modified in response to active experience with the scene. The resultant adaptation is not specific to the learned scene but generalizes to a different task, demonstrating that priors are constantly adapted by interactive experience with the environment.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brewster, D. Edinburgh J. Sci. 4, 99–108 (1826).
Sun, J. & Perona, P. Nat. Neurosci. 1, 183–184 (1998).
Langer, M.S. & Bulthoff, H.H. Perception 30, 403–410 (2001).
Wiess, Y., Simoncelli, E.P. & Adelson, E.H. Nat. Neurosci. 5, 598–604 (2002).
Van Ee, R, Adams, W.J. & Mamassian, P. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 20, 1398–1406 (2003).
Kersten, D., Mamassian, P. & Yuille, A. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 55, 271–304 (2004).
Adelson, E.H. Science 262, 2042–2044 (1993)
Hershberger, W. J. Comp. Physiol. Psych. 73, 407–411 (1970).
Karni, A. & Sagi, D. Nature 365, 250–252 (1993).
Ernst, M.O. & Banks, M.S. Nature 415, 429–433 (2002).
Acknowledgements
Supported by the Wellcome Trust (GR069717MA), US National Science Foundation (0107383) and the 5th Framework Program of the European Union (IST-2001-38040, TOUCH-HapSys). We thank M.S. Banks for helpful feedback.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adams, W., Graf, E. & Ernst, M. Experience can change the 'light-from-above' prior. Nat Neurosci 7, 1057–1058 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1312
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1312
This article is cited by
-
A unifying theory explains seemingly contradictory biases in perceptual estimation
Nature Neuroscience (2024)
-
Visual experience shapes the Bouba-Kiki effect and the size-weight illusion upon sight restoration from congenital blindness
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
Do observers use their own interpupillary distance in disparity scaling?
Optical Review (2023)
-
Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy retroillumination: applications and illusions
International Journal of Retina and Vitreous (2022)
-
Repeated exposure to either consistently spatiotemporally congruent or consistently incongruent audiovisual stimuli modulates the audiovisual common-cause prior
Scientific Reports (2022)
