Uniocular Pulfrich phenomenon: An abnormality of visual perception

Abstract

We describe a patient with multiple sclerosis who experienced the Pulfrich illusion of elliptical motion of a target moving linearly when viewing the motion with one eye as opposed to the well recognised binocular manifestation of the phenomenon. The perception of the illusion was independent of the wave form or velocity characteristics of target motion or of retinal image position. We suggest that the occurrence of the phenomenon does not simply reflect delay in the visual system but is a function of an abnormality of perceptual interpretation of visual stimuli occurring at a high integrative level.