Blue screen filters reduce visual discomfort and disrupt the relationship between neural and subjective responses to unnatural images

Abstract

Heightened sensory sensitivity, including visual discomfort, is common in migraine, autism, and the wider population, and is linked to headaches, perceptual disturbances, and reduced quality of life. We tested whether coloured screen filters reduce visual discomfort and whether such effects are reflected in neural responses. Nineteen participants with self-identified sensory sensitivity completed a within-subject task viewing natural scenes, striped gratings, and filtered-noise “bump” textures under greyscale, red, and blue screen filters. Subjective discomfort was rated after each trial, and neural responses were measured with EEG steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) at 5 Hz. Image type strongly influenced both ratings and SSVEP amplitude. Blue screen filters lowered discomfort ratings for stripes and bumps but did not reliably affect SSVEP amplitude. The positive association between SSVEP amplitude and discomfort was weaker under blue screen filtering, suggesting a change in how neural activity is related to subjective experience in this modest sample. These results indicate that broad chromatic manipulations may not reduce cortical responses per se, but may alter the mapping between neural responses and discomfort.