The human brain mechanisms of afterimages: From networks to cortical layers.

ABSTRACT: Afterimages are common visual illusions that have long attracted scientific interest, yet their neural mechanisms remain little understood. We used high-spatial-resolution fMRI to investigate human whole brain and cortical layer activity in primary visual cortex (V1) linked with afterimages and perceptually matching animated images - stimuli designed to imitate the appearance of afterimages. Both afterimages and perceptually matched images engaged overlapping, widespread brain activity, particularly in visual sensory regions that follow the contralateral circuitry of the primary visual pathway. However, afterimages elicited weaker fMRI signals across many subcortical and cortical areas compared to images, except in salience network regions, where activity was enhanced for afterimages. Cort

SUBMITTER: Kronemer SI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12424661 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature