When You Feel Like You’re Being Watched

Our brains can tell if someone is looking at us, even if we haven’t seen it.

A study was conducted with a ’cortically blind’ patient, who couldn’t see due to damage caused to the visual cortex (a part of the brain). He was unable to perceive anything consciously, like watching a movie or reading a book, but could process information that went to the brain areas that worked. The research showed that we are able to feel if someone is looking directly at us, even if we have not consciously seen it, which can explain why we feel we are being watched even if we haven’t actually seen anyone looking at us.