🧠🃏 New #research suggests that Three-Card Monte works by exploiting how our #brains predict where our eyes should move next.

Instead of relying on speed, magicians use specific physical cues to trigger a natural eye-tracking error called an antisaccade. This brief lapse in visual focus allows the performer to swap the cards while the observer's #brain is busy processing a misdirected movement.

👉 phys.org/news/2026-04-magician…

#psychology #neuroscience #magic #science #vision #physics #illusion

Magicians' talk doesn't trick the eyes, Three-Card Monte experiment suggests

Magicians often talk while performing their acts, using a type of speech called "patter." This can include scripted dialog, storytelling, and interactions, and is often used to entertain and manage audiences, with many people—including magicians—beli…

^{New York Institute of Technology (Phys.org)}