LEFTY VS. RIGHTY, UNDER A NEW LIGHT All Editions.=.Two Star B. Two Star P. One Star

Humans have a built-in preference for left lighting that correlates to right- versus left-handedness, concludes a study in a recent issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. The visual system has a remarkable ability to come up with answers even when given insufficient data. For the visual system to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Record (Hackensack, N.J.)
Main Author By SARA ROBINSON, Special from The Dallas Morning News
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bergen County, N.J North Jersey Media Group Inc 24.08.1998
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Summary:Humans have a built-in preference for left lighting that correlates to right- versus left-handedness, concludes a study in a recent issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. The visual system has a remarkable ability to come up with answers even when given insufficient data. For the visual system to interpret a picture of a three-dimensional object, it must first decide which parts are bulging out like a ball and which are sunken in like a saucer. If the only clue it has to work with is shading, research has shown, it's not enough information. Imagine a picture of a light-colored disk whose bottom half is shaded. You could be looking into a bowl with light coming in from below, captured only by the top rim, or you could be looking at a ball with light coming in from above and curving over its upper hemisphere. Both interpretations are equally valid from a physical standpoint.