Slow motion sets in when the light dims

Movement perceived by rods, the cells in the retina that register dim light, looks slower than the same motion detected by the color-sensitive cones, which are active in bright light.

References:

Gegenfurtner, K.R., H. Mayser, and L.T. Sharpe. 1999. Seeing movement in the dark. Nature 398(April 8):475.

Sources:

Marty Banks
University of California, Berkeley
School of Optometry
Berkeley, CA 94720-2020

Karl R. Gegenfurtner
Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Kybernetik
Spemannstr. 38
72076 Tübingen
Germany

From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 15, April 10, 1999, p. 228. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.

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