title: Scotopic foveal afterimages.
abstract: If, after being in the dark for many minutes, one views an extended surface under dim (scotopic) illumination, one fails to see any hint of the dark spot at the center of gaze that might be expected from the absence of rods in the fovea. Here we report that, if the surface is suddenly completely darkened, one sees for a few seconds a relatively bright spot, about 2 deg in size, at the point of fixation. If the surface is now restored to its original brightness, a dark spot of similar size appears where one fixates, that again lasts for several seconds. All this can be observed with no elaborate apparatus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 225 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. david_hubel@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Hubel
authors.forename: Piers D L
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernández
mesh_terms: D000360:Afterimage; D003623:Dark Adaptation / Q000502:physiology*; D005584:Fovea Centralis; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting