At first glance, this beautiful blue-toned illustration looks like nothing more than a decorative window opening into a surreal cosmic background. But take a closer look: which way is the window ...

Allen Institute researcher Jerome Lecoq points to one of the diagrams that was used in a study focusing on how the brain interprets optical illusions. (Allen Institute Photo / Erik Dinnel) Our brains ...

A grayscale ballerina who appears to be moving. A human who can fit in a doll box. A black-and-white prism which appear to change shape when viewed from three different directions. Those are the top ...

The Best Illusion of the Year contest offers researchers, and participants, an opportunity to explore the gaps and limits of human perception. By Katrina Miller Take a look at this video of a waiting ...

Optical illusions may make you feel like a fool, but you could be able to train your brain to resist them. “It is very likely that people from the general population have the capacity to be trained to ...

Studies show that your brain doesn’t perceive the world exactly as it is. Instead, it “fills in gaps in perception.” The first layer of your brain’s primary visual cortex helps to decide what reality ...

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... Optical illusions are a brain feature, not a bug. Here's ...