Neurophysiological Responses Associated with Subjective Glare: An Event-Related Potential Study

Abstract

Glare is a visual experience of discomfort and low visibility caused by strong lights. Using electroencephalography, we investigated neurophysiological responses associated with glare. By comparing event-related potentials (ERPs) between the trials in which participants experienced glare (“Glare”) or not (“No glare”) from visual stimuli with the same physical brightness, we identified ERP components specific to subjective glare. In the right lateral-occipital (latency: 95–105 ms), left lateral-occipital (134–305 ms), and anterior-prefrontal (181–191 ms) areas, ERPs exhibited significantly greater potentials for the (“Glare” trials than for the “No glare” trials.