Our sensory system adjusts its function driven by both shorter-term (e.g. adaptation) and longer-term (e.g. learning) experiences. Most past adaptation literature focuses on short-term adaptation. Only recently researchers have begun to investigate how adaptation changes over a span of days. This question is important, since in real life many environmental changes stretch over multiple days or longer. However, the answer to the question remains largely unclear. Here we addressed this issue by tracking perceptual bias (also known as aftereffect) induced by motion or contrast adaptation across multiple daily adaptation sessions. Aftereffects were measured every day after adaptation, which corresponded to the degree of adaptation on each day. For passively viewed adapters, repeated adaptation attenuated aftereffects. Once adapters were presented with an attentional task, aftereffects could either reduce for easy tasks, or initially show an increase followed by a later decrease for demanding tasks. Quantitative analysis of the decay rates in contrast adaptation showed that repeated exposure of the adapter appeared to be equivalent to adaptation to a weaker stimulus. These results suggest that both attention and a non-attentional habituation-like mechanism jointly determine how adaptation develops across multiple daily sessions.

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ImportanceDermatology is one of the least diverse specialties, while patients from minority racial and ethnic groups and other underserved populations continue to face numerous dermatology-specific health and health care access disparities in the US.ObjectivesTo examine the demographic characteristics and intended career goals of graduating US allopathic medical students pursuing careers in dermatology compared with those pursuing other specialties and whether these differ by sex, race and ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis secondary analysis of a repeated cross-sectional study included 58 077 graduating allopathic medical students using data from the 2016 to 2019 Association of American Medical Colleges Graduation Questionnaires.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe proportion of female students, students from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine (URM), and sexual minority (SM) students pursuing dermatology vs pursuing other specialties. The proportions and multivariable-adjusted odds of intended career goals between students pursuing dermatology and those pursuing other specialties and by sex, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation among students pursuing dermatology.ResultsA total of 58 077 graduating students were included, with 28 489 (49.0%) female students, 8447 (14.5%) URM students, and 3641 (6.3%) SM students. Female students pursuing dermatology were less likely than female students pursuing other specialties to identify as URM (96 of 829 [11.6%] vs 4760 of 27 660 [17.2%]; P < .001) or SM (16 [1.9%] vs 1564 [5.7%]; P < .001). In multivariable-adjusted analyses, students pursuing dermatology compared with other specialties had decreased odds of intending to care for underserved populations (247 of 1350 [18.3%] vs 19 142 of 56 343 [34.0%]; adjusted odd ratio [aOR], 0.40; 95% CI, 0.35-0.47; P < .001), practice in underserved areas (172 [12.7%] vs 14 570 [25.9%]; aOR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.34-0.47; P < .001), and practice public health (230 [17.0%] vs 17 028 [30.2%]; aOR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.38-0.51; P < .001) but increased odds of pursuing research (874 [64.7%] vs 29 121 [51.7%]; aOR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.57-1.97; P < .001) in their careers. Among students pursuing dermatology, female, URM, and SM identities were independently associated with increased odds of caring for underserved populations (eg, URM: aOR, 4.05; 95% CI, 2.83-5.80) and practicing public health (eg, SM: aOR, 2.55; 95% CI, 1.51-4.31). URM students compared with non-URM students pursuing dermatology had increased odds of intending to practice in underserved areas (aOR, 3.93; 95% CI, 2.66-5.80), and SM students compared with heterosexual students pursuing dermatology had increased odds of intending to become medical school faculty (aOR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.01-2.57), to pursue administrative roles (aOR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.01-2.59), and to conduct research (aOR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.01-2.98).Conclusions and RelevanceThe findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that diversity gaps continue to exist in the dermatology workforce pipeline. Efforts are needed to increase racial and ethnic and sexual orientation diversity and interest in careers focused on underserved care and public health among students pursuing dermatology.

Sexual minority men (SMM), including gay and bisexual men, report increased rates of skin cancer and indoor tanning, whereas sexual minority women report decreased rates of skin cancer and indoor tanning. 1 Indoor tanning has been associated with other risky behaviors, including decreased use of protective clothing and shade when outdoors. 2,3 However, no data exist on these other skin cancer risk behaviors among SMM. This study assesses the impact of sexual orientation on indoor tanning, sunless tanning, and sun-protection behaviors among men.