Discomfort and hypermetabolism

In general, the visual stimulation that is uncomfortable on the eye gives rise to a large haemodynamic response in the visual cortex, suggesting that the sensation of discomfort is homeostatic and acts to prevent a large metabolic load. The large haemodynamic response is consistent with evidence from computational models that the visual stimuli responsible for discomfort cannot be processed efficiently. These visual stimuli differ from those encountered in nature in respect of their image structure and colour contrast. Strong sensory stimulation may be metabolically demanding to process, although there are individual differences in response to these stimuli.