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visual illusions

This shows a large black hole surrounded by small black dots on a white background

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Visual Neuroscience

·May 31, 2022·4 min read

This Illusion, New to Science, Is Strong Enough to Trick Our Reflexes

The highly dynamic, new "expanding hole" optical illusion can be perceived by 86% of people. The illusion is so good at deceiving the brain, it causes pupillary dilation as though we are walking into a darkened room.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·January 29, 2022·5 min read

Everything We See Is a Mash-up of the Brain’s Last 15 Seconds of Visual Information

Researchers reveal how the brain creates an illusion of visual stability.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 8, 2021·5 min read

There’s a ‘Man in the Moon’: Why Our Brains See Human Faces Everywhere

Face pareidolia, a phenomenon where the brain is tricked into seeing human faces in inanimate objects, may occur as a result of the brain processing the perceived facial expression in the same sequential way it perceives a human face.

This shows the starburst optical illusion

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Visual Neuroscience

·June 29, 2021·3 min read

A New Kind of Visual Illusion Uncovers How Our Brains Connect the Dots

A newly designed optical illusion is helping researchers better understand visual processing and perception. The illusion creates a subjective reality in what we see, highlighting the constructive nature of perception.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·December 20, 2020·5 min read

Visual Illusion That May Help Explain Consciousness

A new visual illusion sheds light on redundancy masking and how we perceive our visual environment. The findings provide new insight into human consciousness.

This shows a swirling ring optical illusion

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·August 24, 2020·4 min read

Optical Illusions Explained in a Fly’s Eyes

It seems that flies are as susceptible to optical illusions as humans. Turning on and off some neurons that govern motion detection in flies, researchers were able to alter the insects' perception of illusory motion.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·August 14, 2020·6 min read

Why the Brain Is Programmed to See Faces in Everyday Objects

Face pareidolia, the phenomenon of seeing facelike structures in inanimate objects, is a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when sensory input is processed by visual mechanisms that have evolved to extract social content from human faces.

This shows two dots against a monochrome gradient background

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·June 17, 2020·7 min read

Study sheds light on a classic visual illusion

A new study sheds light on why we get tricked by a classic optical illusion. Researchers found brightness estimations occur before visual information reaches the visual cortex, probably originating in the retina.

Featured Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos Visual Neuroscience

·May 31, 2019·4 min read

Waterfall illusion: when you see still objects move – and what it tells you about your brain

Researchers reveal what optical illusions tell us about the workings of the brain.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology Visual Neuroscience

·October 9, 2018·6 min read

Time-Traveling Illusion Tricks the Brain

Researchers have developed two new illusions that shed light on how our senses can influence each other, specifically, how the presence of audio can influence visual illusions.

Image shows an optical illustion of a triangle and neurons.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·July 13, 2017·4 min read

Synapses in the Brain Mirror the Structure of the Visual World

Researchers have identified how our brains are so good at perceiving contours and edges. The study, published in Nature, reports neurons are most likely to connect if they react to edges that lie on a common axis and the structure of the world around us is mirrored in the pattern of synapses.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Visual Neuroscience

·July 12, 2017·4 min read

Exposure to a Common Visual Illusion May Enhance Your Ability to Read Fine Print

According to University of York researchers, the ability to read fine print may be enhanced following exposure to a common visual illusion. The researchers found visual acuity may be enhanced by the expanding motion aftereffect optical illusion.

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visual illusions

This Illusion, New to Science, Is Strong Enough to Trick Our Reflexes

Everything We See Is a Mash-up of the Brain’s Last 15 Seconds of Visual Information

There’s a ‘Man in the Moon’: Why Our Brains See Human Faces Everywhere

A New Kind of Visual Illusion Uncovers How Our Brains Connect the Dots

Visual Illusion That May Help Explain Consciousness

Optical Illusions Explained in a Fly’s Eyes

Why the Brain Is Programmed to See Faces in Everyday Objects

Study sheds light on a classic visual illusion

Waterfall illusion: when you see still objects move – and what it tells you about your brain

Time-Traveling Illusion Tricks the Brain

Synapses in the Brain Mirror the Structure of the Visual World

Exposure to a Common Visual Illusion May Enhance Your Ability to Read Fine Print

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