The incredible color changing gradient illusion that can 'break your brain'

Two University of Washington professors described this phenomenon in a 2014 research paper. 'Accurate perception of surface reflectance poses a significant computational problem for the visual system,' professors Maria Pereverzeva and Scott O. Murray, who authored the study, explained. 'The amount of light reflected by a surface is affected by a combination of factors including the surface's reflectance properties and illumination conditions. Other factors, such as the amount of light reflected by a surface, the orientation of the surface and whether or not it's 3D can affect our lightness perception of a given image Optical illusions arrange a series of patterns, images and colors or play with the way an object is lit in order to trick our brains into thinking something is there – when it is not. When light hits our retina, it takes about one-tenth of a second for our brain to translate that signal into perception, reports Discovery News.