Rome-SANA
Visual Perception Phenomenon
A person may notice changes in their facial features when staring at themselves for a long time in the mirror, especially in dim light, as some details may seem to fade or change, a phenomenon linked to visual perception mechanisms and the way the brain processes information.
Troxler Effect and Lighting
The website "The Conversation" reported on Tuesday that Italian psychologist Giovanni Battista Caputo, from the University of Urbino in Italy, studied the effect of prolonged staring at one's face in the mirror under dim lighting conditions, and found that some participants noticed changes in their facial features, while others reported seeing faces that seemed unfamiliar.
One possible visual explanation is related to what is known as the Troxler effect, described by Swiss physician Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler in 1804, which refers to the fading clarity of some peripheral details when a person fixes their gaze on a single point for a long time, making those details appear to fade from the field of vision.
The Brain's Role in Processing
Specialized areas in the brain, including the fusiform face area, contribute to processing and recognizing facial features by analyzing facial details and the spatial relationships between them. Such studies shed light on the complexity of the visual process, as the role of the eye is not limited to receiving images, but the brain participates in interpreting them and organizing their details, making visual perception the result of the interaction of several factors.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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