Michaela Klimova¹, Jorge Morales; ¹Northeastern University

Visual discomfort is an aversive experience associated with viewing certain stimuli, inducing perceptual illusions and somatic effects such as eye strain or headache. Repetitive patterns such as gratings with mid-range spatial frequencies are considered the most aversive, particularly for highly sensitive individuals who report stronger discomfort and more illusions when viewing such patterns. While the physical stimulus properties causing visual discomfort are fairly well characterized, its behavioral and cognitive consequences and associated eye movement patterns are less well studied. Specifically, do participants actively avoid such stimuli or alter their gaze behavior? We recruited participants with low and high visual sensitivity, as assessed by the Visual Discomfort Scale (VDS). While tracking their gaze, participants performed a visual search task in which they were presented with multiple high-contrast grating patterns of low (0.5 cpd), mid-range/aversive (1-6 cpd) and high (>7 cpd) spatial frequency and required to discriminate the color of a low-opacity target present within one of the gratings in 50% of trials. Additionally, we obtained free-viewing eye movement data and a discomfort rating for each stimulus, and presented a computerized version of the Pattern Glare Test. Higher spatial frequencies were associated with higher reported discomfort and lower accuracy. However, eye movement data showed that higher spatial frequency gratings were also fixated upon earlier, had longer fixation durations, and higher number of repeated fixations, regardless of VDS status. High-VDS participants showed greater pupil constriction in response to the grating patterns compared to low-VDS, suggesting some impact of high sensitivity. In contrast to the search task, participants directed fewer fixations to the high spatial frequency stimuli in a free-viewing setting, compatible with discomfort reduction behavior. Together, our findings suggest that, in a task setting, participants do not avoid aversive patterns but direct more effort to them despite discomfort, regardless of VDS group.