Induced visual fading of complex images

Simons, Daniel J.; Lleras, Alejandro; Martínez-Conde, Susana; Slichter, David; Caddigan, Eamon; Nevarez, Gabriel

doi:10.1167/6.10.9

Cited by 31 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…However, MIB is also a “visual disappearance” or fading phenomena, in which otherwise salient visible stimuli disappear from awareness, as if erased in front of the observer's eyes. These include binocular rivalry [2], “generalized flash suppression” [3], artificial scotoma [4], Troxler fading [5] and the related “scene fading” effect [6]. The interest in MIB and the other disappearance effects stems from the all-or-none nature of the illusory disappearance, which could be useful for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness [7] and the intrinsic mechanisms underlying perceptual organization [2], [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motion-Induced Blindness and Troxler Fading: Common and Different Mechanisms

et al. 2014

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Extended stabilization of gaze leads to disappearance of dim visual targets presented peripherally. This phenomenon, known as Troxler fading, is thought to result from neuronal adaptation. Intense targets also disappear intermittently when surrounded by a moving pattern (the “mask”), a phenomenon known as motion-induced blindness (MIB). The similar phenomenology and dynamics of these disappearances may suggest that also MIB is, likewise, solely due to adaptation, which may be amplified by the presence of the mask. Here we directly compared the dependence of both phenomena on target contrast. Observers reported the disappearance and reappearance of a target of varying intensity (contrast levels: 8%–80%). MIB was induced by adding a mask that moved at one of various different speeds. The results revealed a lawful effect of contrast in both MIB and Troxler fading, but with opposite trends. Increasing target contrast increased (doubled) the rate of disappearance events for MIB, but decreased the disappearance rate to half in Troxler fading. The target mean invisible period decreased equally strongly with target contrast in MIB and in Troxler fading. The results suggest that both MIB and Troxler are equally affected by contrast adaptation, but that the rate of MIB is governed by an additional mechanism, possibly involving antagonistic processes between neuronal populations processing target and mask. Our results link MIB to other bi-stable visual phenomena that involve neuronal competition (such as binocular rivalry), which exhibit an analogous dependency on the strength of the competing stimulus components.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motion-Induced Blindness and Troxler Fading: Common and Different Mechanisms

et al. 2014

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“…For example in Troxler fading, prolonged fixation causes stimuli in the periphery (Troxler, 1804), or, as has been shown more recently, even entire scenes (Simons et al, 2006) to disappear from view. As adaptation causes luminance boundaries to break down, color may spread beyond that boundary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Afterimage watercolors: an exploration of contour-based afterimage filling-in

Hazenberg

Lier

2013

Front. Psychol.

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We investigated filling-in of colored afterimages and compared them with filling-in of “real” colors in the watercolor illusion. We used shapes comprising two thin adjacent undulating outlines of which the inner or the outer outline was chromatic, while the other was achromatic. The outlines could be presented simultaneously, inducing the original watercolor effect, or in an alternating fashion, inducing colored afterimages of the chromatic outlines. In Experiment 1, using only alternating outlines, these afterimages triggered filling-in, revealing an “afterimage watercolor” effect. Depending on whether the inner or the outer outline was chromatic, filling-in of a complementary or a similarly colored afterimage was perceived. In Experiment 2, simultaneous and alternating presentations were compared. Additionally, gray and black achromatic contours were tested, having an increased luminance contrast with the background for the black contours. Compared to “real” color filling-in, afterimage filling-in was more easily affected by different luminance settings. More in particular, afterimage filling-in was diminished when high-contrast contours were used. In the discussion we use additional demonstrations in which we further explore the “watercolor afterimage.” All in all, comparisons between both types of illusions show similarities and differences with regard to color filling-in. Caution, however, is warranted in attributing these effects to different underlying processing differences.

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“…1C). Numerous authors have reported the fading of foveal targets previously (Darwin, 1795;Troxler, 1804;Krauskopf, 1963;Pessoa and De Weerd, 2003;Simons et al, 2006), including Troxler himself: "Troxler's effect has become associated almost exclusively with the disappearances of peripheral targets, but it is noteworthy that Troxler himself reported that the central fixation target disappeared after prolonged observation" (Wade and Tatler, 2005). No study to date has determined the impact of microsaccades on counteracting foveal fading, however.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microsaccadic Efficacy and Contribution to Foveal and Peripheral Vision

McCamy

Otero‐Millan

Macknik

et al. 2012

Journal of Neuroscience

121

136

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Our eyes move constantly, even when we try to fixate our gaze. Fixational eye movements prevent and restore visual loss during fixation, yet the relative impact of each type of fixational eye movement remains controversial. For over five decades, the debate has focused on microsaccades, the fastest and largest fixational eye movements. Some recent studies have concluded that microsaccades counteract visual fading during fixation. Other studies have disputed this idea, contending that microsaccades play no significant role in vision. The disagreement stems from the lack of methods to determine the precise effects of microsaccades on vision versus those of other eye movements, as well as a lack of evidence that microsaccades are relevant to foveal vision. Here we developed a novel generalized method to determine the precise quantified contribution and efficacy of human microsaccades to restoring visibility compared with other eye movements. Our results indicate that microsaccades are the greatest eye movement contributor to the restoration of both foveal and peripheral vision during fixation. Our method to calculate the efficacy and contribution of microsaccades to perception can determine the strength of connection between any two physiological and/or perceptual events, providing a novel and powerful estimate of causal influence; thus, we anticipate wide-ranging applications in neuroscience and beyond.

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Induced visual fading of complex images

Cited by 31 publications

References 25 publications

Motion-Induced Blindness and Troxler Fading: Common and Different Mechanisms

Motion-Induced Blindness and Troxler Fading: Common and Different Mechanisms

Afterimage watercolors: an exploration of contour-based afterimage filling-in

Microsaccadic Efficacy and Contribution to Foveal and Peripheral Vision

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