In the checker shadow illusion, patches A and B appear to be different shades of gray because the brain uses prior expectations about cast shadows dimming surface appearance to infer that B is lighter than it actually is, even though both patches are the same shade

normativepending

Speaker

Anil Seth

Evidence Quote

the brain is using its prior expectations built deeply into the circuits of the visual cortex that a cast shadow dims the appearance of a surface, so that we see B as lighter than it really is.

Source

Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality | Anil Seth | TEDTED
Created: 8/10/2026, 10:50:20 PM

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