Modern, human-made environments that feature certain design elements can overload the brain, causing visual discomfort and stress, according to a new University of Stirling study.
Visual discomfort refers to the unpleasant feelings or strain people experience when viewing certain images or environments. This can range from eyestrain to migraine, difficulty reading or feelings of being overwhelmed in situations where others experience no issues at all.
Now a major international review, led by Professor Paul Hibbard of the University of Stirling’s
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Emeritus Professor Arnold Wilkins of the University of Essex has found that some seemingly ordinary environments can affect people more than we realise.
Striped patterns, cluttered interiors, high-contrast colours, flickering lights, and even packed supermarket shelves can all contribute to visual discomfort, helping to explain why some spaces can feel uncomfortable or distressing.
The findings, which involved collaboration between experts in psychology, optometry, lighting, architecture and other fields, suggest this could be because modern, human-made environments differ significantly from the natural scenes the visual system has evolved to process efficiently.
The review also found that some visual environments may have a stronger effect on people who are more sensitive to sensory input, including those with migraine, autism, ADHD, dyslexia or epilepsy.
Review lead, Professor Paul Hibbard explained: “Seemingly ordinary visual events can contribute to discomfort in everyday environments, affecting how people read, work, travel, and use shared spaces.
“Our review brings together evidence that some visual environments place excessive demands on the brains of some individuals. This matters for design and accessibility, as well as for neuroscience, optometry, and clinical research.
“If lighting, contrast, pattern, screens, and print contribute to discomfort, they can also be designed with greater care, to ensure that spaces and locations are accessible to everyone.”
The international team, which involved researchers from more than 20 institutions, conducted a comprehensive review to unify decades of findings from fields within clinical neurology, optometry, psychology, and engineering.
By pairing mathematical analyses of natural scene geometry with advanced neurocomputational models, they were able to map out exactly how the brain processes visual patterns.
This allowed the researchers to link features of man-made environments directly to how the brain responds in real-world conditions.
Co-lead author, Professor Arnold Wilkins of the University of Essex, added: “It is an important achievement to have created a consensus around which so many experts from such diverse fields have been able to agree.
“These findings mean that comfort can be treated as a routine, foundational part of design from the very outset.
“It can guide the creation of modern lighting, digital interfaces, print media, and public architecture, giving industries a clear basis to ensure everything we make is both highly functional and comfortable to use.
“Ultimately, the aim is to foster environments and materials that align naturally with human physiology, lowering daily visual strain. By optimising these everyday tools and settings we can ensure that spaces are made accessible, welcoming and inclusive.”
A Cerebral Basis for Visual Discomfort and Visual Stress is published in Vision.
The review was made possible through the collaborative pooling of institutional resources and received no external research grant funding.
Initial groundwork was carried out during a collaborative workshop at Birkbeck, University of London, led by Daphne Jackson Research Fellow Dr Beverley Burke and supported through a conference and research activities allowance.
The core team includes researchers from 15 British universities, alongside specialist optometric and clinical practices. The project also integrates insights from academic institutions in the United States, Sweden, South Korea, Spain, and Japan, as well as European industrial technology partners.