Spatial frequency difference between textures interferes with brightness perception
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
Published on: November 9, 2018
Viljami R Salmela1, Pentti I Laurinen
1Department of Psychology, PO Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 20 D), University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland. viljami.salmela@helsinki.fi
Abstract:
Abrupt changes in luminance trigger and restrict brightness filling-in. If brightness was actively filled-in and mediated by cells signaling both luminance borders and surface brightness, then brightness spreading could also get disrupted by changes in texture. We measured psychophysically the brightness of a uniform luminance disk, which was segmented into two parts by different textures. The brightness of the central part of the disk was substantially reduced, and the reduction depended on spatial frequency, but not on the orientation difference between the textures. The results show that texture borders are able to block brightness filling-in. The bandwidth of brightness spreading was estimated to be approximately 1.5 octaves. This suggests that brightness information spreads only between neurons of similar spatial frequency characteristics.
Related Concept Videos
Interference: Path Lengths
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Interference and Diffraction
Difference from Background: Limit of Detection
The LOD indicates the presence or absence...
Perceptual Constancy
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...
Aliasing
If the sampling frequency is below the Nyquist rate, these replicas overlap, preventing the original signal...
