I ran tutorials for a lecture series on sensory motor systems this semester. Students and I studied how our eyes and brains receive and process information from our surroundings in Karin's lectures. We ultimately learned that visual perception depends on background, surroundings, context, experience, perceptual awareness, etc. It is why we see various visual illusions such as the Kanizsa triangle or square by forming illusory contours on neurons of V1 (primary visual cortex) and V2 (secondary visual cortex) in our brain.
When prepared tutorial materials, I came across a fascinating study entitled 'If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus)'. This study investigated whether cats are susceptible to sitting in illusory enclosures, utilizing cats' attraction to box-like spaces to assess their perception of the Kanizsa square visual illusion. This study revealed that cats selected the Kanizsa illusion just as often as the square and more often than the control, indicating that domestic cats may treat the subjective Kanizsa contours as they do actual contours.
I was firstly impressed by the innovative idea to use cats as subjects and their well-known phenomenon, loving square, for the fundamental neuroscience research. Secondly, this study was carried out together with citizen science participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 500 pet cats and cat owners conducted the six daily trials. Thirty cats completed all tests, and nine cats selected at least one stimulus by sitting within the contours (illusory or actual) with all limbs for at least three seconds. I found these successful nine cats are outstanding, and those three seconds are incredibly long and worth as hours after I tried the trials with my cat.
My cat loves sitting in a box and on piles of paper on my desk like other cats. But on Day 1, she could not stop walking towards me and did not notice the existence of the stimuli at all. It may be because she loves me more than squares; or needs cuddles after being lonely for a day. Thus, I tried the trials over the weekends, when she usually wants to have a little more privacy. She eventually has started to sit on the mat and come closer to the stimuli, but very randomly. She has NEVER sat in the Kanizsa square, even in an actual square. The result of my cat indicates that the success rate of this study (9/ 30/ 500) is super accurate. Anyway, working with my cat is really enjoyable and I just want to share how adorable my cat is.