Optical Illusions in Honeybee and Human Vision Share a Significant Likeness
In a groundbreaking study led by Scarlett Howard and Adrian Dyer at RMIT University, it has been demonstrated for the first time that honeybees fall for size-based visual illusions, much like humans. This finding challenges assumptions about perception and reality, implying that these "errors" might be efficient processing strategies.
The Ebbinghaus Illusion and Delboeuf Illusion are powerful geometric illusions that humans experience, where identical central circles appear different sizes when surrounded by larger or smaller circles. Remarkably, it appears that honeybees, despite their small brains, also experience these illusions when presented with identical objects surrounded by different contextual elements.
The research reveals that honeybees, like humans, use efficient neural circuits optimised for processing visual information actively and contextually rather than passively. This means that their perception is shaped by interactions with their environment, such as flight movements, which help tune their neural responses to particular directions and patterns. This active sensing strategy creates a perception framework that can lead both bees and humans to be fooled by visual illusions related to size.
Both species rely on simplified processing shortcuts rather than analysing every detail in the visual scene fully. This allows for quick recognition and decision-making but makes them vulnerable to illusions where relative size is misjudged because of surrounding context or orientation cues. For example, when perceiving size in certain illusions, the brain interprets relative movement, angles, and context to estimate size instead of measuring absolute dimensions, leading to similar perceptual errors in bees and humans.
Though the detailed neural architecture differs, the fundamental principle of relying on active scanning and experience-tuned neurons to simplify complex visual input is a shared shortcut. This supports why they show similar illusions in size perception despite vast differences in brain size and complexity.
Understanding how different species perceive visual illusions has practical applications across multiple fields, including Artificial Intelligence, Psychology and Neuroscience, Education, and Conservation. This discovery that honeybees perceive visual illusions opens questions about plant-pollinator co-evolution, with evidence suggesting that some flowers may have evolved patterns to exploit bee's size illusions.
The researchers speculate that certain floral patterns may have evolved specifically to trigger size illusions in bee vision, making these flowers appear more rewarding and increasing pollination success. This convergence in visual processing strategies reflects how evolution has shaped different brains to solve similar perceptual challenges with minimal resources, resulting in comparable vulnerabilities to illusions based on size.
The next time you're fooled by an optical illusion, it's a reminder that what you see isn't necessarily what is "out there," and our perceptions are adaptive constructions shaped by evolutionary pressures, not perfect representations of physical reality. This discovery suggests that certain visual processing shortcuts aren't uniquely human but may represent optimal solutions that evolution has discovered independently multiple times.
[1] Howard, S., & Dyer, A. (2021). Honeybees perceive visual illusions: Evidence for a shared adaptive advantage in context-dependent size perception. The Conversation.
- The study by Scarlett Howard and Adrian Dyer at RMIT University indicates that honeybees, like humans, experience visual illusions, such as the Ebbinghaus Illusion and Delboeuf Illusion.
- Remarkably, honeybees, despite their small brains, perceive these illusions when presented with identical objects surrounded by different contextual elements, suggesting an active and contextual neural processing.
- This research shows that both humans and honeybees, in their visual perception, simplify complex visual input by relying on experience-tuned neurons and efficient processing shortcuts.
- This shared strategy makes both species vulnerable to illusions where relative size is misjudged, as the brain interprets relative movement, angles, and context to estimate size instead of measuring absolute dimensions.
- Understanding how different species perceive visual illusions has practical applications across various fields, such as Artificial Intelligence, Psychology and Neuroscience, Education, and Conservation.
- The convergence in visual processing strategies seen in the perception of size illusions by humans and honeybees may suggest evolutionary pressures have led to similar adaptive constructions in perception, demonstrating that certain visual processing shortcuts aren't uniquely human.
