Cognition
A Perspective on 3-D Visual Illusions
What the leaning tower and related illusions reveal about how your brain constructs 3-D images
Stories by Susana Martinez-Conde
Neuroscience
The Neuroscience of Illusion
How tricking the eye reveals the inner workings of the brain
Cognition
Clues to the Mind Emerge When Perception and Reality Conflict
You are more than a robot searching for food and mates
Countdown to the World's 12th Annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest
Worldwide voting will take place on the Best Illusion of the Year Contest Web site, from 4 P.M., June 29 to 4 P.M. Eastern time, June 30
Behavior
Happier and Younger (Looking)
Long face no longer: A new study confirms that smiling makes you look younger
Cognition
How Magicians Trick Your Brain
They hijack its limited ability to deal with perceptual ambiguity
Behavior
Did the Baboon Feel the Magic?
A YouTube video of a baboon watching a magic trick goes viral… but was it really magical for the monkey?...
Faces Look More Attractive When You Pay Attention
First impressions are not final: a new study suggests that people appear more attractive when you pay attention to their faces.
2 Call for Illusion Submissions: The World's Annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest
The top 3 winners will receive: $3,000 USD for first place, $2,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third place.
Mind & Brain
Meet the Animal Masters of Illusion
Humans are not the only species to use visual trickery to their advantage
Mind & Brain
Everyday Love
Emotion never stops in everyday life. A new study reveals that people experience emotions most of the time as they go about their daily activities. The second most common feeling? Love...
Mind & Brain
What Little Babies See That You No Longer Can
Before developing perceptual constancy, three- to four-month-old babies have a striking ability to see image differences that are invisible to adults. They lose this superior skill around the age of five months...
Neuroscience
Remembering David Bowie: The Goblin King's Juggling Illusion
In memory of the artist David Bowie, who died on Sunday, January 10, we feature here an excerpt of the movie Labyrinth, with Bowie performing contact juggling as the Goblin King. ...
How to Stick to Your New Year Resolutions
The trick may be to focus on leaving your old "inferior self" behind
Cognition
Aging Brings Big Changes in Visual Perception
Older people can struggle to see certain illusions, offering clues about the aging brain
The Force of the Lightsaber Illusion
The white in the middle of this lightsaber can’t be any whiter than the white background that your screen generates: but it nevertheless appears brighter.
Mind & Brain
Call for Illusion Submissions: The Best Illusion of the Year Contest
Contestants are invited to submit 1-minute YouTube videos featuring novel illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2015) of all sensory modalities (visual, auditory, etc.)...
Mind & Brain
Training Reduces the Size of the Blind Spot
New research shows that a mere 8 days of training can reduce the size of the physiological blind spot.
Mind & Brain
Neuroscience in Fiction: Age Progression
Yesterday, the journal Nature published a short science fiction story that I wrote to explore the concept that we create reality in our own brains, irrespective of what the world outside may be like...
Mind & Brain
How Ghostbusting Became a Victorian Pastime
Nineteenth-century entertainment was a peculiar mix of technological innovation and supernatural thinking
