Revisiting 'The Dress'

Months after the phenomenon known as ‘The Dress’ hit the internet, neuroscientists from Ruhr-Universität Bochum have demonstrated that the optical illusion is linked to specific brain activation patterns. Writing in the journal Cortex, the researchers explained how some people could view the striped dress as black and blue, while others see it as white and gold.

Many renowned research institutes have explored the science behind The Dress from various angles, by analysing the psychophysics or details of the image components. Bochum researchers Lara Schlaffke, Lauren Haag and Anne Golisch have now expanded the previous findings by providing insights into the differences in human brain activity caused by the contrasting perceptions.

The study tested participants who perceived the dress as white-gold or black-blue. In an MRI scanner, brain activation of all participants was measured while they looked at the photo of the dress via a computer-based presentation system. In the control condition, participants looked at coloured squares with the same colour properties as the photo of the dress. In this control condition, no differences between the groups were identified in correctly naming the colours of the squares, nor in brain activation during the presentation of the coloured squares.

The researchers then analysed the brain activation in both groups during presentation of the dress. They demonstrated that in a direct comparison of groups the photo triggered differential brain activation, depending on their perception. All participants who saw the dress as white-gold presented additional activation, mainly in frontal and parietal brain areas. Frontal regions are particularly involved in higher cognitive processes, such as selective attention and decision-making, while parietal areas process visual information from the occipital lobe.

Before the existence of The Dress, no optical illusion existed with exactly two competing perceptions that could not be deliberately manipulated. The meme has thus enabled the research group to identify the brain areas that cause optical illusions, laying the foundation for further research in the field of visual processing.