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Troxler fading is described as the perceptual disappearance of stationary images, often in the visual periphery, during sustained fixation. Microsaccades have been shown to counteract and reverse the perceptual fading of contrived stimuli such as Gabor patches (Costela, McCamy, Macknik, Otero‐Millan, & Martinez-Conde, 2013; McCamy, Macknik, & Martinez‐Conde, 2014; McCamy et al., 2012). Here we demonstrate that microsaccadic dynamics similarly drive equivalent perceptual alternations in representational art. This approach can help deepen our understanding of masterpieces such as Claude Monet's “Impression, Sunrise” (“Impression, soleil levant”), in which a red sun rises over two small fishing boats in a port. Though the red sun appears perceptually brighter than the surrounding sky, Livingstone (2002) showed that the sun and the surrounding sky have the same approximate luminance. Equiluminance between an object and its background is known to facilitate Troxler fading. Accordingly, Safran & Landis (1998) noticed that staring at the sailor in Monet’s painting results in perceptual fading of the sun. We set out to assess whether the perceptual fading of the sun in “Impression, Sunrise” depends on microsaccade production. If so, it would indicate that the vanishing of the sun in Monet’s masterpiece represents an instantiation of Troxler fading in art.
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Microsaccades mediate perceptual alternations in Monet’s “Impression, sunrise”
Abstract Troxler fading, the perceptual disappearance of stationary images upon sustained fixation, is common for objects with equivalent luminance to that of the background. Previous work showed that variations in microsaccadic rates underlie the perceptual vanishing and intensification of simple stimuli, such as Gabor patches. Here, we demonstrate that microsaccade dynamics also contribute to Troxler fading and intensification during the viewing of representational art. Participants fixated a small spot while viewing either a Gabor patch on a blank background, or Monet’s painting “Impression, Sunrise.” They continuously reported, via button press/release, whether the Gabor patch, or the sun in Monet’s painting, was fading versus intensifying, while their eye movements were recorded with high precision. Microsaccade rates peaked before reports of increased visibility, and dropped before reports of decreased visibility or fading, both when viewing Gabor patches and Monet’s sun. These results reveal that the relationship between microsaccade production and the reversal and prevention of Troxler fading applies not only to the viewing of contrived stimuli, but also to the observation of “Impression, Sunrise.” Whether or not perceptual fading was consciously intended by Monet, our findings indicate that observers’ oculomotor dynamics are a contributor to the cornerstone of Impressionism.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1734887
- PAR ID:
- 10213464
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2045-2322
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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