“How your brain can turn your own reflection into something unrecognizable”

Key points

• A Halloween Bloody Mary ritual leads people to stare into a mirror in dim light.
• Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo conducted a 2010 study with 66 volunteers.
• Two-thirds reported distorted self-faces; over a quarter saw unfamiliar people.
• Troxler fading explains some perceptual fade, but not all distortions.
• The brain’s facial-recognition network and expectations shape what we see in mirrors.