Jonathan Cohen: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Jonathan Cohen, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

Watching a fake hand get stroked can trick your brain into feeling it
Hide a person's real hand from view, place a rubber hand where they can see it, and stroke both in perfect sync. Within minutes most people report feeling the touch as coming from …
— Matthew Botvinick and Jonathan Cohen, Rubber hands 'feel' touch that eyes see
Stroke a fake hand in sync with a hidden real one and the brain adopts the fake
In a 1998 experiment, people watched a rubber hand being stroked with a paintbrush while their own hidden real hand was stroked in perfect sync. Within minutes, most reported feeli…
— Matthew Botvinick and Jonathan Cohen, Rubber hands 'feel' touch that eyes see

Five ideas worth knowing, every week