Perception LabAttention
The Vanishing Colours
Stare at the dot and watch the colours cease to exist.
Stare at the black dot. Keep your eyes completely still.
Within ten to twenty seconds the coloured patches will fade - and then vanish entirely. Nothing on this page is changing. The moment you move your eyes, they snap back.
Why it happens
Troxler fading. Neurons only report change; when your gaze is perfectly still, the blurry patches in your peripheral vision produce a constant, unchanging signal - so your brain stops listening and fills the area with the background. The instant your eyes move, the signal changes and the colours return.