What happens if you stare into the eyes of another person for 10 minutes?

Giovanni Caputo and his colleagues from the University of Urbino involved 20 volunteers in the experiment, splitting them in pairs and seating them at a distance of one meter from each other. There was enough light in the room to distinguish the facial features of the partner, but light vision was weakened. The results of this experiment were very surprising.

Italian psychologists claim that in 10 minutes the state of consciousness of the subjects was significantly disturbed - and people began to experience a complete dissociation. 95% of these subjects reported seeing deformed facial features, 75% saw monster faces, 50% saw their own face in stead of someone else's, and 15% saw the face of one of their relatives. But why does this happen at all?

The authors of the work believe that the matter is in the adaptation of the brain to a frozen, unchanging situation. Sooner or later, it begins to feel like a background and is generally not noticed at all. Perception dims and is only slightly "updated" when the picture shifts slightly with blinking or involuntary eye movements - nystagmus. At the same time, the brain begins to look for changes even where they have not happened - and draws pictures that are slightly different from the real ones.

Do you want to check it out? Well, this experiment is easy to repeat at home, with the involvement of one of the family members or friends.