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OPTICAL ILLUSIONS AND BRAIN - TWISTING TOYS

How/What?

Look directly at the dot in the middle of the circle, and your brain will choose to eliminate the circle, leaving only the white part visible.

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What: The Troxler fade, named after the discoverer Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler, was recorded in 1804 in his paper titled “On the disappearance of given objects from our visual field” (this is an English translation as the original was in German). You'll observe that as you gaze at the center and concentrate on it, the outer ring starts to fade and ultimately vanishes completely. You'll need to move your head or give a hard blink to see it again.

How To: There isn't much to customize in this optical illusion. You can change the colors and the thickness of the ring, which will give you an idea of how much you can push its effect.

Explain it: When you focus on an object, the neurons responsible for processing that information start to get tired and slow down. This causes them to process information at a slower rate. Eventually, your brain begins to fill in the gaps of what it's seeing with the information it has, which in this case is mostly a blank area. Eventually, the ring fades completely and is replaced by the blank space.

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