What are fluctuations in perception?

Fluctuations in perception are when what you see or feel changes even though nothing really changed around you.

Imagine you're looking at a red balloon. It looks bright and happy. But if the lights go out, the same balloon might look darker, almost purple, even though it's still the same balloon. That’s fluctuation in perception, your eyes are telling you something different because of how much light there is.

Think about playing on a slide at the park. When it's sunny, the slide looks smooth and shiny. But when it gets cloudy or rainy, the same slide might look wet and slippery. You might even feel like it’s wobbly, but the slide didn’t change; your brain is just getting different clues from your eyes.

Your brain uses information from your eyes (and ears, nose, etc.) to figure out what's going on around you. Sometimes, that info changes, like when it gets darker or noisier, and your brain makes new guesses about what things look like or feel like. That’s why you might see the same thing as different depending on where you are or how much light there is.

It’s like having a friend who sometimes wears sunglasses, so they look different even though they're still the same person!