Computer processing speeds seem to exponentially increase every year. But a new study suggests that the original computer, the human brain, can process images the eyes see for only 13 milliseconds - a speed much faster than previously thought.
The study, conducted by neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was recently published in the journal Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics.
Though previous studies have suggested the fastest speed at which the brain can process images is 100 milliseconds, the researchers from MIT gradually increased speeds until their subjects' answers were no better than chance.
To conduct the study, the team - led by Mary Potter, professor of brain and cognitive sciences - asked participants to look for a certain image - for example, "picnic" or "smiling couple" - while viewing a series of either six or 12 images for between 13 and 80 milliseconds.
Prof. Potter notes that vision works to find concepts, a rapid-fire way of processing that may help direct the eyes to their next target. She explains:
"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."
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