Suppressive Effect of Sustained Low-Contrast Adaptation followed by Transient High-Contrast on Peripheral Target Detection
Farshad Moradi, Shinsuke Shimojo, Christof Koch

Filling-in can be induced by high-contrast edge adaptation, or after prolonged adaptation to a peripheral low-contrast object (Troxler fading). Adaptation to sustained low-contrast vs. adaptation to transient high-contrast suggests synergy between contrast and edge adaptation, but the possible interactions are not well understood. We observed that briefly increasing the contrast of a peripheral low-contrast object after a few seconds of strict fixation elicits disappearance of the object, resulting in perceptual filling-in of the location with the surround (Figure 1a). After a short time usually around one second the object reappears. Hence, following sustained adaptation to a low-contrast target, transient high-contrast stimulation can induce perceptual disappearance. (full report)