when in a dark room why can you see things in your peripheral vision but not when you look directly at it?

Question

when in a dark room why can you see things in your peripheral vision but not when you look directly at it?

In: 4

Answer 1

This is because the periphery is more sensitive to light than the rest of your eyes. The reason it is so sensitive is due to a higher rod density in that area of the eyes, which are not as sensitive to color unlike the cones which make up most of our central vision.