The perception of Mach bands results from
A) ommatidia.
B) mutual excitement.
C) mutual consent.
D) lateral facilitation.
E) lateral inhibition.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The perception of Mach bands results from lateral inhibition. This is because the neural processing in the retina involves both excitatory and inhibitory signals, which can result in a sharpening of contrasts between adjacent regions of different brightness. This is what creates the illusion of Mach bands, which are perceived as faint stripes of light and dark near the borders between stimuli of different brightness levels. Lateral facilitation refers to the phenomenon where neurons can excite each other to produce greater firing rates, while mutual consent and ommatidia are not relevant to the issue of Mach bands.

The Perception of Mach Bands Results from