American University Students Learn About the Magic of the Brain

Scientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik talk to 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

students at American University about the connections between

magic tricks and our brains on October 9th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renowned neuroscientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik visited American University, where they talked about some of the neurological implications of magic tricks, and what it says about our brains and our ways of thinking. They are leaders in the field of neuromagic, which studies how magicians' techniques can help neurologists better understand brain functions. They have written a book on the subject, called "Slights of Mind."

Currently, there is a lot about how magic affects the brain that is still not understood. Martinez and Macknik showed many examples of visual illusions that trick our minds for unknown reasons. One example was an image with a center dot and a bunch of crooked lines around it. If you stared directly at the center dot, after a few seconds, the lines appears to be straight. Macknik said that it is still a mystery why this works. He jokes that the fact that we don't know is what pays his salary.

Martinez and Macknik talked about how our field of vision is very narrow, both literally and figuratively, and we are very prone to distractions. They said that if you extend your arm in front of you, and stick your thumb up, your thumbnail is basically the size of what in your field of vision you can really "see" at any given time. They showed a video of a magician doing tricks on a pedestrian, where he repeatedly pick-pocketed him and gave his items back in unexpected ways. Martinez and Macknik explained that because of distractions, not only was the pedestrian not able to see how the magician took his stuff, but neither were any of us, and we were watching for it. Based on the sounds of the audience, they were right.

Another key topic was how we do not see what we do not expect. They showed a video of a person asking strangers for directions, and while they were asking, a couple people holding a large sign walked between them. While this was going on, the original person sneaked away, and a new person came in. The strangers generally would not notice that they were now giving directions to a different person than who asked them, because they were not expecting it.

Martinez and Macknik showed a video of two teams of people passing around basketballs, and asked us to count how many passes one team made. In the middle of the video, a person in a gorilla suit walked through the stage. They asked us how many people noticed the man in the gorilla suit. Most people did, because this is now a very well known trick. However, they then asked how many people noticed that another person left the stage, and the curtains in the background changed color. Hardly anyone did, because they were only focusing on the gorilla they knew was coming. Macknik jokingly boasted about how he had outsmarted us all.

A student in attendance, sophomore Alex O'Donnell, said that he "liked how the show used techniques behind magic, while also combining biological reasons behind it." When asked about his favorite part, he said that "the gorilla part was clever."