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Why does the waterfall illusion happen?

For example, when one looks at the rocks beside a waterfall they may appear to drift upwards after one has viewed the flowing water for a short period-perhaps 60 seconds. The illusion almost certainly originates in the visual cortex, and arises from selective adaptation in cells tuned to respond to movement direction.



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The Waterfall Illusion is a type of motion aftereffect (MAE) known at least since the time of Aristotle (1908) (On Dreams: Part 2). It involves the apparent motion of a static object following a subject's prolonged exposure to moving stimuli.

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