Not fooled: In the hollow mask illusion, an inverted face mask (pictured) appears as a face to most people. Schizophrenics and people under the influence of cannabis include those who don't recognise the inverted mask as a face (click play, above, for image of the front of the mask).
Credit: UCL
A different perspective: The front side of the mask, revealing the real face.
Credit: UCL
Intriguingly, the finding mirrors scenes from Phillip K. Dick's 1977 science-fiction novel A Scanner Darkly, in which patients suffering from drug-induced psychosis caused by a disconnect between two parts of the brain are diagnosed using visual puzzles similar to optical illusions.
Vaughan Bell, of King's College London is the author of a paper discussing neuropsychology in A Scanner Darkly.
He said that various optical illusions such as the Müller-Lyer and Poggendorff illusions had been used in schizophrenia research for many years.
The new study therefore adds to a list of optical tricks which schizophrenics respond differently to.
I wouldn't say....
I wouldn't say this shows a link between Cannabis use and Schizophrenia. The used only synthetic THC which is commonly done even though it is completely unscientific. Nobody injects synthetic THC to get high. Their are over 60 other chemicals found in Cannabis so far.
Also it is possible that Cannabis just causes a transient disconnection between these two parts of the brain and is not permanent. If they do further research as they say they will, they MUST use smoked Cannabis and not just synthetic THC.
I suppose it's like using a drug to mimic the effects of a disease when it only really produces the symptoms and doesn't actually cause the disease. I'm not a doctor but if 'House' is anything to go by this can be done. lol
The article is not
The article is not suggesting there is any link between schizophrenia and cannabis use, it's merely saying that the two may have some similar effects on the brain.
highlighting
I notice the deepest areas on the hollow side (the eyebrow, the tip of the nose) are brightly lit. Shouldn't these areas be darkest? As shown to us the highlights prejudice us to see a convex figure. Also were the test subjects shown actual masks, or just pictures?
Hal
so...who then really sees...
*reality*???
More to the point,
what is *reality* ? Everyone filters what they experience through their preconceptions.