Working in Movement

Have you ever walked into a familiar room and sensed that something had changed, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it? Or noticed that someone was behind you, even though you couldn't see them? If so, you've experienced a phenomena called "mindsight." A small study at the University of British Columbia recently investigated the effect. Mindsight could explain sixth sense fleshes out the study.

The study asked people to view a picture on a computer screen for a very short time. Sometimes, the picture changed slightly, and sometimes there were no changes. About a third of the people exposed to the changing pictures reported that something had changed, but they couldn't say what it was. A control group saw unchanging pictures.

Paying attention to things is always desirable, but especially so in potentially risky situations. It can be hard to take in the environment, especially when things are changing rapidly. It's nice to know that something in the nervous system is alert, and can use instinctive feelings to inform you.

Sub-cortical visual mechanisms are also evidently at work in sensing and moving. The late Jack Heggie wrote about it in this article about vision and proprioception.