The Mechanisms of the Visual System Behind Visual Illusions: From Eye to Brain

Abstract

Visual illusion is a psychological phenomenon characterized by perception that appears to differ from physical reality. Illusory perception persists even though the sufferers are aware of the physical properties of what they are observing. Thus, studying visual illusions has led to an improved understanding of the neural mechanism underlying visual information processing. Visual illusions are important tools in neuroscience. Some brightness illusions, such as the Hermann grid illusion or Chevreul illusion, can be explained by the function of the center-surround antagonistic receptive field of retinal ganglion cells. Additionally, color aftereffects were found to be produced in the retina. In addition, neurons in the primary visual cortex are responsible for the orientation-contingent color aftereffect, known as the McCollough effect. ISI reversal, a visual motion illusion, is known to be caused by a biphasic temporal mechanism located in the retinal or lower visual areas. Higher visual areas are responsible for the production of visual illusions such as the Ponzo illusion, size constancy illusion, or tabletop illusion. These illusions are perceived through the process of achieving size constancy from a two-dimensional retinal image. Thus, both low-level and high-level vision are involved in the perception of visual illusions.