Illusions

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Illusions
By, Heather Kasparian
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How Illusions Work

• An illusion is something that decives the senses
  or mind. Our brain fills in things with
  information we already know.
• For exmple, images on the T.V. dont really move.
  Our brain just puts the images together, which
  triggers the illusion that cartoons walk or words
  fly across the screen.
• This happens because our brain has learned to
  expect movement, or our brain fills in the
  missing pieces.

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Neurons

• A neuron is a cell that carries messages through
  the nervous system.
• There are 3 types of neurons, the Sensory Neuron,
  the Inter Neuron, and the Motor Neuron
• Continued next slide

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Neurons Cont.
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The process of How illusions get to the brain

• When you first see an illusion, the reaction goes
  strait to your nerve impulse. The nerve impulses
  begin in the dendrite of a neuron. The impulse
  moves very quickly toward the neurons cell body
  ant down the axon until it reaches the axon tip.
  There is a tiny space called a synapse between
  each axon tip and the next structure. In order
  for a nerve impulse to be carried along, it must
  cross the gap between the axon and the next
  structure. The axon tips releas chemicals that
  enable the impulse to cross the synapse.
• Cont. on next slide

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The process of how illusions get to the brain
Cont.

• If that didnt happen the impulse would stop at
  the axon, it would not be passed from sensory
  neuron, to inter neuron, to motor neuron. Nerve
  impulses would never reach your brain.

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Illusion Examples and Explanations

• Section 2

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The Challenge
Your challenge is to identify the colors of ink
that are used to print the letters of each word.
For Ex. On the 1st line you will say Blue. Black.
Green. Red.

Cont. on next pg.
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red green pink yellow blue violet green
gray orange black purple red green pink
yellow blue violet green gray orange
black purple
Connections Cont.
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What Happened?
Your brain is divided up into different regions.
Each region has its own task. One region
specializes in identifying colors and another
specializes in language. When you looked at the
first word, each region saw something
different. The language part read the word, it
saw R, E, and D. It put them together and
recognized the word red. It was saying red, red,
red! The region that controls identifying colors
didnt care about the word, it saw the ink and
recognized it as the color blue. It was saying
blue, blue, blue! When the 2 messages arrived at
the brain, the brain had 2 different things to
say. This created confusion, which made it
difficult to read this! From the Book Optical
Illusion Magic By Michael A. DiSpezio
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Bill Clinton and Al Gore

• Looks like Clinton and Gore? Look again!!!
• Explanation on next slide

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How It Works
Nope, theyre both Clinton, just with a
different hairstyle. We are all used to seeing Al
Gore and Bill Clinton together. At a quick
glance, our mind picks up a guy standing next to
Bill Clinton. The man has black hair, the 2 men
look like a team, or partners. So our mind
answers the question of who is this man. If
illusions are studied closely, the mind doesnt
have to fill in any blanks. If you examine the
picture closely and carefully, you will notice
that they are the same man, by the facial
expressions and the facial features. From the web
page www.eyeillusions.com
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Work Cited

• United States. Apple Computer, Inc. Grolier.
  1995 DISK COMPACT CD-ROM. US Apple Computer, Inc.
  1995.
• Church, Jok. Illusions. Illusions. (2000)
  3pp.Online. Internet. October 15, 2001
• Coolidge, Elizabeth, Exline, Joseph D., Jenner,
  Jan, Cronkite, Donald, Graff, Dawn. Focus on Life
  Science. Massachusetts Printice Hall

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Thanks For Watching!!