Visualizing a light or dark scene, such as a sunny afternoon on the beach or a starry night, makes your pupils respond as if your eyes are actually seeing the real thing, says new research in Psychological Science. Researchers at the University of Oslo first asked a group of study participants to watch a screen as it displayed triangles of different brightness. Later, they were asked to visualize the same triangles while the scientists recorded their pupil size with infrared eye trackers. When the participants imagined the bright triangles, their pupils contracted. When they imagined the darker scenes, their pupils dilated. The researchers observed a similar effect when the participants imagined other bright and dark scenes that werent displayed on the computer. Since humans cant consciously control the size of their pupils, the researchers said that these results support the emerging idea that our mental imagery activates brain circuits very similar to what would happen if we experienced the real thing. Read more: bit.ly/IET8DJ Journal article: The Eye Pupil Adjusts to Imaginary Light. Psychological Science, 2013. doi: 10.1177/0956797613503556 Image credit: country_boy_shane/Flickr
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 06:02:38 +0000