The Frohlich effect: a consequence of the interaction of visual focal attention and metacontrast

Usually we assume that the central nervous system preserves temporal sequen ces. Here we show that moving objects-in the context of behaviour often dan gerous ones-are seen with a shorter latency than stationary (flashed) objec ts. In addition moving objects are deblurred. Two mechanisms contribute to this functional specialisation: cue-induced visual focal attention and meta contrast. Under unnatural conditions these mechanisms lead to an optical il lusion first described by Frohlich. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.