WHAT'S HAPPENING:
This is called an aftereffect. Staring at the heart overstimulates your eyes' photoreceptors, which are what absorb the light that stimulates vision.
So even after you look away from the image, your brain is still receiving messages about it. What you end up seeing are called complementary
colors. Red and blue are complementary colors of green and yellow.
Illustration by Illusionworks, L.L.C.
Vision scientist Al Seckel is the author of The Great Book of Optical Illusions.
|
