Optical illusions are older than you think. The first optical illusions date back to 20,000 BC and took the form of cave sculptings. Nowadays they are found all over the place – on screens, in books ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Illusions like these mess with the brain's visual processing system, making viewers see things ...

Our brains create false perceptions through these illusions, which make us see things that do not exist while they distort ...

Visual perception of motion and its accompanying illusions has long fascinated neuroscientists and psychologists alike. This research field examines how the brain compensates for inherent neural ...

July 30, 2025 • A grayscale ballerina who appears to be moving. A human who can fit in a doll box. A black-and-white prism that appears to change shape when viewed from three different directions.

The study of visual illusions in animals provides a compelling window into both the evolutionary continuity and diversity of perceptual processes. Research indicates that many species, from domestic ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In Head Trip, PopSci explores the relationship between our brains ...

Researchers at Kyushu University have further explored the visual rabbit illusion. The three rabbits represent the actual flashes, while the dots above them show where people perceive the light points ...

Our visual system is constantly making assumptions about what we see. In one of my first psychology courses in college, our professor used an effect from Disney's classic Haunted Mansion attraction to ...

Visual illusions of motion are a major source of interest in the vision research community. Explaining how a still image can produce an illusory perception of motion is important for a more complete ...

Duping a guppy is easier than duping a ring dove — at least when it comes to a classic optical illusion. In the Ebbinghaus illusion, two identical circles placed side by side are each framed by a set ...

Volunteers were asked to try to rotate two balls around each other on their hands under two different learning conditions. Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University showed that ...