How many black dots can you see in this mind-boggling optical illusion?
This one will mess with your head
The latest optical illusion sweeping the internet really does mess with your head… And your eyes.
Japanese professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka was the first to share the image on Facebook over the weekend with the post now being shared more 8,000 times.
The post was later tweeted by games developer Will Kerslake, leaving the public totally baffled. Will wrote the caption ‘There are twelve black dots at the intersection in this image. Your brain won’t let you see them all at once’.
The illusion, which is called Ninio’s Extinction Illusion after Jacques Ninio, is made up of a grid of horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines with 12 dots in the intersections.
Users have been trying to master the image by staring at the snap but it seems no matter how hard they try, they just can’t see all 12 dots at once.
Can you see all 12?
Don’t worry if not, you’re not the only one. People have been taking to social media to vent their frustration at the new illusion.
The science behind the illusion means the black dot in the centre of your vision will always appear, with the surroundings being filled by your brain as it guesses what’s on the periphery.
As your brain makes the best guess and is aware of the lines, it chooses to ignore the dots and settles for the explanation that there are lines around the centre.
Confusing right?