When you look directly at a bright light, why does it “stain” (for lack of a better term) your vision when you look away?

Question

When you look directly at a bright light, why does it “stain” (for lack of a better term) your vision when you look away?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Your eye adjusts to normalize light coming in. So when you look at a bright light those receptors will temporarily become less sensitive to that specific type of light. That’s why it usually shows the opposite color to what you were looking at.