Stochastic resonance can be used as a measuring tool to quantify the ability of the human brain to interpret noise contaminated visual patterns. Here we report the results of a psychophysics experiment which show that the brain can consistently and quantitatively interpret detail in a stationary image obscured with time varying noise and that both the noise intensity and its temporal characteristics strongly determine the perceived image quality.

• Received 31 October 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.1186