Culture
How Artists Create Images That Fool the Eye
Trompe l'oeil illusions challenge your perception
Stories by Susana Martinez-Conde
Culture
Sculpting the Impossible: Artists Make Solid Renditions of Visual Illusions
Artists find mind-bending ways to bring impossible figures into three-dimensional reality
Cognition
View Amazing Images That Seem to Move
Art and neuroscience combine to create fascinating examples of illusory motion
Cognition
The Illusions of Love
How do we fool thee? Let us count the ways that illusions play with our hearts and minds
Cognition
Is That Picture Looking at Me?
Eye gaze is critically important to social primates such as humans. Maybe that is why illusions involving eyes are so compelling
Neuroscience
The Brain’s Face Recognition System Is Easy to Fool
The human brain is good at identifying faces, but illusions can fool our “face sense”
Neuroscience
The Visual Tricks of the Color Red
The facts and fictions of crimson perception
Cognition
Discover the Science of School Yard Illusions
Childhood tricks can reveal a surprising amount about early cognition and the nervous system
Child's Play
The misperception tricks that children play on one another
Neuroscience
Pain Is Controlled as Much by the Brain as by Sensation
Pain is an emotion
Cognition
Fearsome Halloween-Themed Illusions
Spooky illusions trick and treat your brain
Culture
Food for Thought: Visual Illusions Good Enough to Eat
Face or food? The brain recognizes edible artwork on multiple levels
Cognition
Aviator’s Dilemma: Pilots Encounter Illusions Everywhere
Military aviators learn to second-guess their senses
Cognition
Experience How Colors Play with Your Mind
Colors can change with their surroundings and spread beyond the lines
Cognition
Advertisers Play with Time for a Reason
Marketing illusions that make time fly
Neuroscience
The Power of Afterimages in the Mind
Staring at images can temporarily reset retinal cells and cause ghostly visions
Cognition
Images That Disappear and Reappear
Fading illusions play hide-and-seek with your perception
Cognition
Straight Lines That Curve, Circles That Twist and Other Mind-Bending Illusions
Illusions that distort your perception
Cognition
The Brain Sees Faces Everywhere
When seeing is believing
Cognition
How Context Controls Perception of Size
Does size matter? To your brain, it doesn't
