Pupillary Response to Representations of Light in Paintings
Journal of Vision (2020) 20(10):14, 1–18 1 Pupillary response to representations of light in paintings Department of Neurofarba, University of Florence, Serena Castellotti Florence, Italy Department of Neurofarba, University of Florence, Martina Conti Florence, Italy Federal University of ABC, Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil Claudia Feitosa-Santana Neuroscience for Human Development, Sao Paulo, Brazil Department of Neurofarba, University of Florence, Maria Michela Del Viva Florence, Italy It is known that, although the level of light is the primary determinant of pupil size, cognitive factors can Introduction also affect pupil diameter. It has been demonstrated that photographs of the sun produce pupil constriction The pupil is the central opening of the iris that independently of their luminance and other low-level regulates the intensity of light entering the eye to adjust features, suggesting that high-level visual processing retinal illumination and optimize vision (Loewenfeld, may also modulate pupil response. 1993). Light increments produce pupillary constriction Here, we measure pupil response to artistic paintings (miosis), whereas light decrements produce pupillary of the sun, moon, or containing a uniform lighting, that, dilation (mydriasis). This is known as pupillary light being mediated by the artist’s interpretation of reality reflex (PLR), which is controlled by the autonomic and his technical rendering, require an even higher level nervous system (Gamlin & Clarke, 1995; Loewenfeld, of interpretation compared with photographs. We also 1993). Currently, a consistent body of evidence study how chromatic content and spatial layout affect demonstrates that the PLR is not merely a basic the results by presenting grey-scale and inverted low-level mechanism, showing that, even if the versions of each painting.
[Show full text]