Visual trails: do the doors of perception open periodically?

Julien Dubois (1) , Rufin Vanrullen (1)

1 CERCO - Centre de recherche cerveau et cognition

''Visual trailing'' is a transient but dramatic disturbance of visual motion perception of unknown origin: the subject perceives a series of discrete stationary images trailing in the wake of otherwise normally moving objects. Although this phenomenon is most frequently encountered after ingestion of prescription and/or illicit drugs (most commonly with lysergic acid diethylamid, or LSD), it has also occasionally been reported following brain damage or neurological disorders. A quantitative account of visual trails is lacking; we argue that careful experimental investigation could potentially reveal how our brains update conscious visual perception in time.

Domaines: Neurosciences [q-bio.NC]

Julien Dubois, Rufin Vanrullen. Visual trails: do the doors of perception open periodically?. PLoS Biology, 2011, 9 (5), pp.e1001056. ⟨10.1371/journal.pbio.1001056⟩. ⟨hal-00593730⟩