Your brain really IS faster than you think: It takes just 13 milliseconds to see an image, scientists discover



Newly recorded speed is almost eight times faster than the 100 milliseconds recorded by previous studies

Part of the brain continues to process images for longer than 13 milliseconds to respond positively after a sequence of rapid-fire pictures

MIT researchers said their study suggests 'vision find s concepts'

It might seem impossible to identify a dozen images flashing by in a fraction of a second.



But a team of neuroscientists has found that the human brain can do just that at record-breaking speed.



U.S. researchers discovered that the human brain can interpret images that the eye sees in just 13 milliseconds - the first evidence of such rapid processing speed.



U.S. researchers discovered that the human brain can interpret images that the eye sees in just 13 milliseconds - the first evidence of such rapid processing speed. It was previously thought it took almost eight times longer for humans to process a picture

That speed is almost eight times faster than the 100 milliseconds recorded by previous studies.



Researchers asked subjects to look for a particular type of image, such as picnic or smiling couple, as they viewed a series of six or 12 pictures, each presented for between 13 and 80 milliseconds.



‘The fact that you can do that at these high speeds indicates to us that what vision does is find concepts,’ said Mary Potter, an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences and senior author of the study.



‘That’s what the brain is doing all day long - trying to understand what we’re looking at,’ she added.

This rapid-fire processing may help direct the eyes, which shift their gaze three times per second, to their next target, Professor Potter explained in the study, published in the journal Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics.



Researchers asked subjects to look for a particular type of image, such as picnic or smiling couple, as they viewed a series of six or 12 images, each presented for between 13 and 80 milliseconds. An image of birds used in the study is pictured

THE STUDY IN NUMBERS

13 milliseconds is the time it takes for the human eye to process an image.

That speed is almost eight times faster than the 100 milliseconds recorded by previous studies.

The study suggests that while the images are seen for only 13 milliseconds before the next image appears, part of the brain continues to process those images for longer than that.

The findings are consistent with a 2001 study from researchers at the University of Parma and the University of St. Andrews,. They found that neurons in the brains of macaque monkeys that respond to specific types of image could be activated even when the target images were each presented for only 14 milliseconds in a rapid sequence.

‘The job of the eyes is not only to get the information into the brain, but to allow the brain to think about it rapidly enough to know what you should look at next.

‘So in general we’re calibrating our eyes so they move around just as often as possible consistent with understanding what we’re seeing,’ she said.



After an image ‘hits’ the retina, the information such as shape, colour, and orientation is processed by the brain.

The study suggests that while the images are seen for only 13 milliseconds before the next image appears, part of the brain continues to process those images for longer than that.



‘If images were wiped out after 13 milliseconds, people would never be able to respond positively after the sequence. There has to be something in the brain that has maintained that information at least that long,’ Professor Potter said.

She previously found that humans can correctly identify images seen for as little as 100 milliseconds, but her new research suggests we can do this almost eight times faster.

In the new study, the researchers gradually increased the speed of images until they reached a point where subjects’ answers were no better than if they were guessing.



The MIT team found that although overall performance declined, subjects continued to perform better than chance as the researchers gradually decreased the image exposure time from 80 milliseconds to 13 milliseconds, which was the fastest possible rate with the computer monitor being used.

After an image 'hits' the retina, information such as shape, colour, and orientation is processed by the brain. The study suggests that while the images are seen for only 13 milliseconds before the next image appears, part of the brain continues to process those images for longer. AN MRI scan of a human head is pictured

‘This didn’t really fit with…common assumptions my colleagues and I have had for what you can see,’ Professor Potter said.



She believes one reason for the subjects’ better performance in this study may be that they were able to practice fast detection as the images were presented progressively faster.



The subjects also received feedback on their performance after each trial, allowing them to adapt to this incredibly fast presentation.

