Rats also experience neon color optical illusions… first confirmation

It was confirmed for the first time that rats, like humans, experience neon color optical illusions caused by changes in the brightness or color of lines. The structure of the brain’s nerves, which are connected to animals’ vision, that perceive brightness was also revealed, attracting the attention of academia.

The research team of Associate Professor Masataka Watanabe, a brain neurologist at the University of Tokyo, Japan, published an experiment report on the 23rd and reported that they had succeeded in identifying part of the neural mechanism by which the brain perceives brightness. During the experiment, the research team also found that rats experience neon color optical illusions.

The neon color effect is an optical illusion that occurs when the color or brightness of a portion of a continuous line is adjusted. To find out how the brain processes optical illusions, the research team prepared pictures with a neon color effect like the picture above, showed them to rats, and looked at changes in their pupils.

As a result, the rat’s pupils did not respond at all to images without neon color effects. Conversely, mice that saw an optical illusion image opened their pupils when looking at a dark area, even though there was no actual change in brightness. The research team also found that when mice experience optical illusions, neurons in the visual field within the brain are active to perceive brightness.

Professor Watanabe said, “The visual field is an organ in the brain that processes information obtained by the animal’s vision. Since the nerves in the visual field were active even when there was no change in light, we can understand some of the brain’s neural mechanisms connected to the eyes.” said.

He continued, “It has been speculated by many scholars that animals experience optical illusions just like humans, but this is the first time that a specific optical illusion effect has been confirmed in rats.” “We expect to gain a detailed understanding of the human visual-brain connection mechanism.”

Reporter Lee Yoon-seo [email protected]

⇨Go to Sputnik Naver Post
⇨Go to Sputnik YouTube channel