Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 3, 2026

Visualizing Visual Adaptation
Published on: April 24, 2017
Adaptation mechanisms in spatial vision--II. Flash thresholds and background adaptation
1Center for Vision and Image Sciences, University of Texas at Austin 78712, USA.
Abstract:
To examine how the mechanisms of light adaptation affect spatial pattern vision, contrast detection thresholds were measured for sinusoidal (increment-Gabor) probes on flashed backgrounds in the presence of steady adapting backgrounds. The thresholds for all spatial frequencies (1-12 c/deg), flashed-background intensities (dark to 4 log td) and adapting-background intensities (dark to 4 log td) were adequately described by a simple model consisting of a compressive nonlinearity (a modified Naka-Rushton function), a subtractive adaptation factor, and a multiplicative adaptation factor. For all five subjects the compressive nonlinearity was found to vary systematically with spatial frequency; for all but one subject, the subtractive and multiplicative factors were found to be relatively constant.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Retina
Vision
Anatomy of the Eyeball
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Color Vision

