September 13, 2012

"help me jenny, angelina won't stop dancing around the tv"

That was a hilarious phone call from my grama umpteen years ago about trying to play a DVD for the first time.  It was stuck on the intro screen and I just needed to talk her through the menu options and how to press play.  That story has absolutely nothing to do with this post other than it reminded me of this little spinning animation.

I have been researching the brain for a project I'm working on and stumbled onto posts about this illusion.  Apparently depending on which "way" that dancer is turning tells you which side of your brain you typically use.  Is she moving clockwise or counter-clockwise for you?


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I immediately saw her turning clockwise which apparently means I am more right-brained.  Super pumped, as if this test solidified my place among the creatives, I was determined to see her spin the opposite way.  That was a difficult feat.  Discouraged, I assumed this test doesn't work, who knows if this has anything to do with your brain?!  Stupid test.  BUT then... I saw the switch!  MIND BLOWN  If you focus on her feet & shadow, try to switch which foot you think is in front and imagine it as the back foot.  Once you do it a couple times it becomes more apparent when she "changes direction".  I still don't quite understand how this tells you which side of the brain you use more.  But it's still cool to catch the illusion.  The articles I found are here and here incase you want to read more.  Oh and by the way, I did open the animation in Photoshop and she does not switch direction like some of the comments suggested.  pssh