Anticipating the Future to ‘See’ the Present

June 10, 2008 | Source: New York Times

Scientists argue that the brain has evolved to see a split second into the future when it perceives motion.

Because it takes the brain at least a tenth of a second to model visual information, it is working with old information. By modeling the future during movement, it is “seeing” the present.

This is a general principle the brain applies to a wide variety of illusions that trick the brain into sensing motion.