Meet the Hering illusion:

This is a common optical illusion that I’m sure we’ve all seen before. Though the lines above appear curved, in actuality, they are straight. We’re all so used to seeing these sorts of illusions, but do we really understand how they work?

Well, it seems science may have an explanation. Scientists have always known that humans have a tenth of a second delay between seeing something, and having they register it to the brain. The big question was, what happens during this tenth of a second? Obviously a lot of things can happen in that short time frame, so if we were lagging behind, we would have severe trouble functioning.

The theory put forward by this article is that our brain extrapolates ahead of time, allowing us to “see the future.” This work great for things like fast moving balls and such, but this faculty can cause us to see things that aren’t there. Case in point: the Hering illusion. The spiral lines trick our eyes into thinking we’re moving forward, which causes the brain to go into “future mode.” This extrapolation causes the lines to appear bent to us (as they would appear if we were actually moving).

I’m not 100% sure if I buy this explanation, but its interesting to think about for sure. I always enjoy finding out about new discoveries on the function of the brain, because the implications are always fascinating. I’ll be sure to bring you any updates on this kind of research in the future.