Is there a mechanism behind the sensation of “feeling like you’re being watched”?
In: Biology
i saw a tiktok on it that summarized it pretty well
[https://www.tiktok.com/@potatoesandpears/video/6829717697278823686?lang=en](https://www.tiktok.com/@potatoesandpears/video/6829717697278823686?lang=en)
I think our brain has a mysterious capacity to sense what’s happening around us, even if we aren’t actually ‘seeing’ it. The eyes take in information beyond what’s processed by our visual cortex (responsible for conscious vision and mapping out our view of the world).
A study published in 2013 looked at a male individual, referred to as TN, who was cortically blind, which means his eyes were in working order, but the visual cortex had been damaged, so it can’t do its usual job of providing ‘sight’ in the traditional sense.
This means someone who is cortically blind can’t ‘see’ what’s around them, but their brain is still receiving information from their eyes. The condition gives us a chance to find out what our eyes take in beyond what our sight shows us. So, even though we can see, I believe our brain is doing that same thing. Our senses are powerful. Sometimes when you get that feeling you’re being watched, you actually are. It’s happened to me. It’s insane.
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