The internet says this simulates LSD. The neuroscience is even more fascinating. 🧠 This viral illusion doesn’t recreate the effects of LSD. Instead, it exploits a phenomenon called the motion aftereffect. When you stare at the moving pattern, neurons in your visual cortex that detect motion gradually adapt. When you then look at a stationary object, the balance of neural activity is temporarily disrupted, making the world appear to “breathe”, expand or contract. Your brain is generating the illusion, not your eyes. LSD works very differently. It primarily activates 5-HT2A serotonin receptors, altering communication between large-scale brain networks. This can change colour perception, pattern recognition, self-awareness and the sense of time. While some visual distortions may seem superficially similar, this optical illusion is not a scientifically validated simulation of an LSD experience. Sometimes the most fascinating hallucinations are the ones your healthy brain creates all by itself. References Anstis S, Verstraten FAJ, Mather G. The motion aftereffect. Trends Cogn Sci. 1998;2(3):111-117. Kohn A. Visual adaptation: physiology, mechanisms, and functional benefits. J Neurophysiol. 2007;97(5):3155-3164. Nichols DE. Psychedelics. Pharmacol Rev. 2016;68(2):264-355. Carhart-Harris RL, Friston KJ. REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics. Pharmacol Rev. 2019;71(3):316-344. #Neuroscience #OpticalIllusion #BrainFacts #VisualCortex #LSD Video credit: technowithme_