Unfortunately I didn\u2019t take the best picture so it doesn’t quite work now, but at Dynamo when I stared at the center dot and rings, the outer light blue ring disappeared!\u00a0 Of course my initial reaction was to jerk my head (thinking I was seeing things, or not I guess in my case) and the ring reappeared. This ended up being the intention of the piece and being the nerd that I am, I wondered how they did it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI did some research and found out that the phenomenon is called Troxler Fading, which is when you are fixating on a central object and the object in your peripheral vision fades away from your awareness.\u00a0 Essentially your brain gets used to seeing the unvarying objects and fades them out so you can focus on the central object.\u00a0 It\u2019s similar to when you drop something in your lap, you feel it for a few seconds, and then forget it\u2019s there until you feel it again when you move.\u00a0 It is the body\u2019s way of reducing sensitivity to constant stimuli, freeing attention to process the new things.\u00a0 The diminished response to a repeated stimulus is called habituation (Lou, 1999).<\/p>\n
One very interesting paper I found linked visual habituation (the fading) to adults with ADHD.\u00a0 But first to understand the paper I had to understand how and where the Troxler Fading occurs.\u00a0 Troxler Fading involves two major parts of the brain, the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe. When the parietal lobe was damaged, objects in the peripheral would fade faster than those with a functional parietal lobe.\u00a0 In contrast, those with damaged frontal lobes rarely experienced any fading.\u00a0 The conclusion was that the parietal lobe is necessary to maintain an image, but the frontal is important for the habituation of an object (Mennemeier et al., 1994).<\/p>\n
Jacqueline Massa and Illyse O\u2019Desky knew that people affected with ADHD have abnormal frontal lobe activity and wanted to see if their visual habituation was affected.\u00a0 Since the damage to the frontal lobe was linked to no visual habituation, people with ADHD could have a diminished ability to fade out the unimportant things and therefore have a harder time focusing on one task.\u00a0 They used several tests with Troxler fading, asking 21 adults with ADHD to indicate when the dot in their peripheral faded away.\u00a0 The results of the study showed that adults with ADHD had to stare longer to get the dot to fade (habituation) than those without the disorder.\u00a0 They concluded that the impaired habituation may explain why adults with ADHD have such a hard time focusing on one thing at a time; it takes longer for their brain to fade out unimportant stimuli (Massa and O’Desky, 2012).<\/p>\n
Nerdy tangents like this are completely normal for me.\u00a0 I see (or don\u2019t see) something and have an urging desire understand it.\u00a0 Most of the time I end up finding cool ways to link it to other things.\u00a0 And now when I take my sister to the exhibition in July, I can explain to her how it all works, even though I\u2019ll probably be the stimulus she fades away\u2026<\/p>\n
~Sarah Harrington<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
Lou L (1999) Selective peripheral fading: evidence for inhibitory sensory effect of attention. Perception 28:519-526.<\/p>\n
Massa J, O’Desky IH (2012) Impaired visual habituation in adults with ADHD. Journal of attention disorders 16:553-561.<\/p>\n
Mennemeier MS, Chatterjee A, Watson RT, Wertman E, Carter LP, Heilman KM (1994) Contributions of the parietal and frontal lobes to sustained attention and habituation. Neuropsychologia 32:703-716.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When in Paris it is expected that you will see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre and the famous paintings and sculptures at Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay; but what I did not expect was to attend an exhibition full of manipulated light, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neuroscience"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8MxCW-32","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2354,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/17\/memories-sparked-by-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":0},"title":"Memories sparked by music","author":"Radhika Kadakia","date":"June 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As I was exploring the Electro exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris, I was in awe of the transformation of electronic dance music over time. I did not know what to expect when I walked through those doors. Although I have recently been exposed to what goes into making a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"EDM\"","block_context":{"text":"EDM","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/edm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/Picture1-3-300x176.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2402,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/17\/give-me-a-smile-mona-lisa\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":1},"title":"Give Me A Smile, Mona Lisa!","author":"Monica Vemulapalli","date":"June 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"To smile or not to smile? Was the \u201cMona Lisa\u201d actually smiling in the painting that would become one of the most famous works of art? The Mona Lisa smile seems to be the heated debate of artists and surprisingly, scientists all over the world. Take a look for yourself\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Mona Lisa; art; smile; facial expression; thalamus; optical illusion\"","block_context":{"text":"Mona Lisa; art; smile; facial expression; thalamus; optical illusion","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/mona-lisa-art-smile-facial-expression-thalamus-optical-illusion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-17-at-10.14.16-PM-300x129.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":764,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2015\/06\/08\/why-should-you-visit-museums\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":2},"title":"Why should you visit museums?","author":"Maria Guadalupe Vazquez","date":"June 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It is unreal how fast time flies when you are having a great time! I can not believe that two weeks have already\u00a0passed of\u00a0my five week study abroad adventure in Paris. Despite the challenging workload of the courses I am taking, I can tell you that I have enjoyed my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Neuroscience"","block_context":{"text":"Neuroscience","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/category\/neuroscience\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gardens of Versailles","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2015\/06\/IMG_4332_2-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2511,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/26\/views-not-from-the-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":3},"title":"Views (not from the 6)","author":"Radhika Kadakia","date":"June 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Throughout our time in Paris, we have seen beautiful artwork in the form of paintings, music, sculpture, dance, and much more. Art is all about perception and I have been so grateful to be able to see and experience Monet\u2019s use of color or Van Gogh\u2019s use of texture. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Paris\"","block_context":{"text":"Paris","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/paris\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/3-1-238x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":985,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2015\/06\/22\/when-in-paris-dress-as-the-parisians-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":4},"title":"When in Paris, Dress as the Parisians Do","author":"Kayleigh","date":"June 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 It was in the days before coming to Paris, I was beginning the preparations of packing up my clothes for my trip. I had recently grown an affinity towards colored pants. They are just so great! Blue ones, red ones, pink ones, green ones! So many colors and so\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 4 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 4 comments","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2015\/06\/22\/when-in-paris-dress-as-the-parisians-do\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"2015-06-22_23.08.31","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2015\/06\/2015-06-22_23.08.31-300x214.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2489,"url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/2019\/06\/17\/from-edm-to-country-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":188,"position":5},"title":"From EDM to Country Music","author":"Jennifer Wang","date":"June 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This week our class took a trip to the Philharmonie de Paris where we explored the Electro Exhibition titled Kraftwerk to Daft Punk. I was especially excited to see this exhibit because I love electronically produced music and it is prevalent in most of my daily activities. Personally, I like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"countrymusic\"","block_context":{"text":"countrymusic","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/tag\/countrymusic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/files\/2019\/06\/artworks-000227989407-xwytmg-t500x500-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions\/196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/nbbparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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