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This Illusion, New to Science, is Strong Enough to Trick Our Reflexes

posted by janrinok on Monday June 13 2022, @01:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the your-lyin'-eyes dept.
/dev/random

hubie writes:

Soylent readers, you'll need to click through to TFA to see the illusion referenced below.

An illusion new to science shows that the pupillary light reflex, which controls the width of the pupil in anticipation of expected changes in light, depends on the perceived environment rather than the physical reality:

Have a look at the above image. Do you perceive that the central black hole is expanding, as if you're moving into a dark environment, or falling into a hole? If so, you're not alone: a new study shows that this 'expanding hole' illusion, which is new to science, is perceived by approximately 86% of people.

[...] Optical illusions aren't mere gimmicks without scientific interest: researchers in the field of psychosociology study them to better understand the complex processes our visual system uses to anticipate and make sense of the visual world – in a far more roundabout way than a photometer device, which simply registers the amount of photonic energy.

[...] "Here we show based on the new 'expanding hole' illusion that that the pupil reacts to how we perceive light – even if this 'light' is imaginary like in the illusion – and not just to the amount of light energy that actually enters the eye. The illusion of the expanding hole prompts a corresponding dilation of the pupil, as it would happen if darkness really increased," said Laeng.

[...] "Our results show that pupils' dilation or contraction reflex is not a closed-loop mechanism, like a photocell opening a door, impervious to any other information than the actual amount of light stimulating the photoreceptor. Rather, the eye adjusts to perceived and even imagined light, not simply to physical energy. Future studies could reveal other types of physiological or bodily changes that can 'throw light' onto how illusions work," concluded Laeng.

Journal Reference:
Bruno Laeng, Shoaib Nabil and Akiyoshi Kitaoka, The Eye Pupil Adjusts to Illusorily Expanding Holes [open], Front. Hum. Neurosci., 30 May 2022 | DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.877249

Original Submission

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  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @03:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @03:58PM (#1252968)

    woo hoo! I made it! EXCELLENT!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @04:17PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @04:17PM (#1252975)

    This illusion has been known since at least the 90's, and probably a lot earlier.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by janrinok on Monday June 13 2022, @05:55PM (3 children)

      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 13 2022, @05:55PM (#1252996) Journal

      Well, what a dilemma. Do I believe a scientific paper that is peer reviewed or do I believe an AC with all the credibility of a toothpick? It's going to be a difficult decision .....

      I think the illusion that you are referring to is one of a whole class of illusions which are similar, but they are not the same as this one. But, of course, having read the linked article and the scientific paper you know that, don't you? I will leave you with this one short quote:

      A large class of optical patterns evoke conscious dynamic sensations of illusory movement, despite being static. These illusory motions can be described as a variety of changes in shape or space, like drifting, rotating, oscillating, waving, fluttering, contracting, or expanding. An example of this type of illusion, which we call “expanding hole” is illustrated in Figure 1. Typically, when looking at the pattern below, observers’ subjective reports are characterized by the perception of a gradually expanding central region, occurring over a span of several seconds. According to several reviews of visual illusions (Coren et al., 1976; Changizi and Widders, 2002; Changizi et al., 2008; Wade, 2014), illusions of extent or size are a prominent class (e.g., Ponzo, Müller-Lyer, Ebbinghaus, etc.). However, classic illusions of size do not evoke dynamic sensations of motion like the “expanding hole” presented here.

      • (Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @10:31PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @10:31PM (#1253038)

        Most popular motion illusions project lateral or rotational movement, but expansion of a dark center has been known for a long time.

        A quick GIS found this one from 2014: http://illusionoftheyear.com/2014/05/autokinetic-illusion/ [illusionoftheyear.com]

        My eyes are getting buggy so I'm done.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:51AM (1 child)

          by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:51AM (#1253104) Journal

          Indeed you have found one of the many examples of this time of illusion.

          But none of the others - including the one that you are linking to here - affect the reflex control of the pupils, They make the brain perceive something but they do not causes a reflex reaction:

          "promoted strong reflex dilations of the participants’ pupils, while colored holes prompted their pupils to constrict. "

          The others are all illusions too, but they do not cause this reflex action - this illusion is the first to be identified that has this property. Exactly as was described in the summary, the linked article and the scientific paper. Everything you have said is true - but you are arguing about the wrong thing.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @08:35PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @08:35PM (#1253019)

      [Citation needed]

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @04:44PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @04:44PM (#1252981)

    fuck fuck fuck
    suck suck suck

    the fucking and sucking show!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @06:18PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @06:18PM (#1253001)

    Viewing it with an LCD monitor is difficult, as those have viewing angles which affect the contrast..

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @08:28PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @08:28PM (#1253015)

    I felt like I could almost but not quite see it, as if the second my brain started to fall for it it realized the mistake.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @02:52AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @02:52AM (#1253083)

    "Our results show that pupils' dilation or contraction reflex is not a closed-loop mechanism, like a photocell opening a door, impervious to any other information than the actual amount of light stimulating the photoreceptor.

    Millions of people have long known that. For example - pupils dilate due to emotion too. So it's been long proven and long known that it's not just about amount of light.

    • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:55AM (2 children)

      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:55AM (#1253107) Journal

      Perhaps you should write a scientific paper and submit it for peer review?

      • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @12:45PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @12:45PM (#1253159)

        ease down J. you are getting all pent up like ole buz ustoo.

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by janrinok on Tuesday June 14 2022, @03:24PM

          by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 14 2022, @03:24PM (#1253198) Journal

          I'm not in the least bit stressed or 'pent up' - I'm not even sure how you reached that assessment.

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