If excited by stimuli adjacent in space and time, the optical system frequently perceives illusions in the form of apparent movements. These effects may be attributed to the dynamic properties of the retinal nerve nets. On the basis of a specific psychophysical experiment the mechanism underlying the generation of optical illusions is interpreted by the methods of systems theory and its use in systems analysis is discussed. It is shown that for the perception of apparent movements the transit times of the signals in the dendrites are particularly important.