Figure 1.

Study design and time course of gray matter changes. Schematic illustration of study design and time course of gray matter alterations. Looking 10 minutes at a flickering checkerboard leads to distinct changes of the cerebral gray matter detected by VBM. After 10 minutes an increase of the gray matter compartment can be observed in the primary visual cortex (BA 17), which diminishes again within 1 hour. A decrease of the gray matter is found in the secondary visual cortex (Area V5/MT) with a temporal shift after CS reflecting secondary processing mechanisms. VBM: voxel-based morphometry; BA: Brodmann area.