Fish in the Fishbowl

Did you see a fish of a different color in the bowl? You have just experienced an afterimage. In the retina of your eyes, there are three types of color receptors (cones) that are most sensitive to either red, blue or green. When you stare at a particular color for too long, these receptors get “fatigued”. When you then look at a different background, the receptors that are tired do not work as well. Therefore, the information from all of the different color receptors is not in balance. This will create the color “afterimages”.