A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE sheds light on the nature of the so-called sixth sense, which many people are proud of. Scientists have found that psychic abilities can often be explained by the nature of human vision and the brain.
“Sometimes people think they feel something that cannot be seen with their eyes. However, this is not magic or the sixth sense - such skills can be explained by the way our brains process visual information,”explains the author of the work, Piers Howe, representing the University of Melbourne.
Most Americans believe in the supernatural. According to polls, a third of US citizens admit the existence of psychics and more than two-thirds believe that they have encountered paranormal phenomena during their lives.
Pierce Howe's interest in this issue appeared when one of his students began to claim that she had a sixth sense.
“She told me that she knew what she had never seen. For example, she guessed that her friend was injured in an accident, although he did not tell her about it,”explains Howe.
Howe was skeptical about the student's claim and, in partnership with graduate student Margaret Webb, decided to investigate why people sometimes attribute to themselves supernatural abilities.
Webb snapped pictures of her friends, taking two nearly identical photos of each. There were slight differences between the pictures, which consisted of a change in appearance, for example, in one photo a person was wearing glasses, and in the other without.
The researchers showed volunteers each photo for 1.5 seconds, pausing for a second between demonstrations. After that, the subjects had to say if there were differences between the images, and if so, what. The answer options were offered to the subjects in the form of a list.
Promotional video:
Volunteers almost always noticed the difference between the photos. However, it was very difficult for them to describe specific differences, even if they were very noticeable, for example, the disappearance of a Mexican hat from a person.
Howe guessed that the brain instantly registers changes in the visual parameters of the image (illumination, color, size and contrast), but this does not help a person understand what exactly has changed in the picture.
In the second experiment, students were shown pairs of images containing many red and green circles. The difference between the pictures was that some of the circles changed their color to the opposite. As before, the subjects noticed changes, but could not explain what they were. However, when the total number of circles of the same color remained unchanged when changing the color, the volunteers did not notice any difference between the pictures at all.
According to Howe, the data obtained make it possible to explain the "sixth sense" of people - apparently, the registration of the nuances of visual images occurs in the human brain automatically, bypassing consciousness. For example, student Howe, who claimed her psychic abilities, secretly reacted to subtle changes in her friend's appearance (small cuts or bandages).
“Our research will not change the minds of those who believe in the supernatural, because it is very pleasant to think that you are endowed with psychic abilities,” - said Howe.
ALEX KUDRIN
