Beauty and Brains Tease

i-966fec2957c64463352d2dfe985a492e-420457_357728700922874_200534649975614_1329532_983441880_n-thumb-675x960-72380.jpg
Sources: PetaPixel and Photo Vatika (Sony India)

No, I'm not the first to discovery this extraordinary brain trick. I did want to share this, though, as an example of how our brain processes and stores images. Give it a try - amazing!

Sony India Interesting Ad : stare at the colored dots on this girl's nose for 30 seconds, then quickly look at a white wall or ceiling (or anything pure white) and start blinking rapidly. Congratulations, you just processed a negative with your brain!

I invite any neuroscientists to explain the mechanism!

More like this

I really do love illusions of all sorts, in large part because they fit nicely into my narrative about the fallibility of human thought, but illusions are also great as windows into the ordinary working of our brains. For example, color afterimages provide direct evidence for opponent-processing…
Take a look at this picture I took last year when we went to Venice. Look at it fairly closely, because there will be a "test" at the end of this post. We have posted on boundary extension before: it's a simple phenomenon where our memory for a picture is consistently different from the actual…
No, not really, but this is still a cool result: investigators have used an MRI to read images off the visual cortex. They presented subjects with some simple symbols and letters, scanned their brains, and read off the image from the data — and it was even legible! Here are some examples of, first…
"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help." -May Sarton It's unbelievable how much more amazing the world becomes in slow-motion. You've probably seen some high speed cameras that shoot at astounding frame rates, such…

not a neuroscientist, but this is a common optical illusion. i believe it has to do with the rods and cones in the eye becoming fatigued, rather than any brain function.

How does this relate to persistence of vision?

By Brian Morgan (not verified) on 04 Feb 2012 #permalink

Thank you for your comment. I am interested in the link between the rod/cone cells in the eye and processing and storage of the image. Can anyone elaborate?

Whoa...I kept seeing this ad well after a min. from starring at the negative image. o_o

I'll be darn. I'm so easily entertained!

It's pretty cool. Could see her positive image on the ceiling instantly. I think it's interesting.

By Elizabeth (not verified) on 05 Feb 2012 #permalink

Hahaha, I did this and then stared at the wall across from me, the image was huge and in focus. Also, you dont have to stare at the dots, stare at her eyes, its more natural feeling. :)

(sorry, non-native speaker groping for words)

Generally, our senses don't report the current state of our surroundings but only change-of-state. That's why we get used to an odor in a room, no longer notice some constant noise, or why we still can tell blue from green even if the light itself is red (be it in a club or the evening sun).

The afterimage happens because our vision compensates for a "distortion" for a few moments after said distortion is no longer there.

Hey ..can u do the same for written word, I'm thinking of cheating in an exam,seeing the written text would be helpful, is that cheating

How come! I am a huge fan of your site, I have been reading it out for a few months, but forget to check back in some times. I really don't have anything to add, but I wanted to say thank you for making this brilliant website!