Book 10, Question 66
Why Do Optical Illusions Trick You?
Optical illusions trick you because your brain makes guesses based on patterns! Illusions reveal the guessing shortcuts your brain uses. They are fun little bugs in the system.
More fun facts
- Optical illusions play on the brain's shortcuts, tricking it into seeing things differently than they really are.
- In the neon color spreading illusion, thin colored line segments make the brain see a solid shape that is not drawn.
- The imagined shape even looks brighter than the lines around it.
- Scientists have used this illusion with mice to learn how the brain handles what the eyes see.
- Studying illusions helps reveal hidden secrets of how the brain builds a picture of the world.
Sources: Scientific American
Questions kids ask
Do animals see illusions too?
Yes. Scientists have used an illusion that fools people to study how mice see.