Surely it has happened to you before: you are in class or riding the bus and, suddenly, you have that strange feeling that someone is looking at you. You turn around and discover that you’re not wrong, someone really is!
This phenomenon is known as scopaesthesia and has aroused much curiosity in neuroscience.
And although there are neurobiological and psychological factors that could be involved, there is no solid scientific evidence to prove that we really have a special ability to sense gazes.
Rupert Sheldrake, a British researcher, has done several experiments to test whether we can really feel that we are being watched. In his studies, people seemed to be more accurate than expected when they guessed whether someone was looking at them, which led him to think that they might there is something special about this skill.
But other scientists, such as David Marks and John Colwell, disagree. They believe that Sheldrake’s results could be due to errors in the organization of his experiments.
Specifically, Marks and Colwell found that in those trials repeated certain patterns: It is possible that participants learned and got it right more easily when they were asked if they were being watched.
The brain is always alert
In any case, one of the factors that could explain this sensation is that we are designed to be constantly vigilant, even when we are not consciously paying attention.
This alert system, called exogenous attentionis the brain’s ability to react automatically to sudden stimuli or changes in our environment.
With its help we detect what is happening around us, such as unexpected movements or changes in light.
Exogenous attention It has been crucial for the survival of our species. Imagine that you are a primitive human in the middle of a forest. If you were not able to quickly detect the gaze of a predator or another human being, you could be in danger.
Although we don’t have to worry as much about predators today, we are still very good at picking up on small cues in the environment, such as the movement of another person’s eyes. Even if we don’t consciously notice it, these signals can cause our brain to activate the feeling that we are being watched.
The role of vision
peripheral vision –that is, what we see outside the center of our field of vision, such as objects or movements that appear at the edges of our vision– is another factor that could explain this curious phenomenon that is scopasesthesia.
Although it is not as clear as the central vision, it is excellent for detecting movement and changes in the environmentwhich means that our subconscious could detect that someone is watching us.
In other words: if someone around us is moving their eyes or turning their head to look at us, our peripheral vision could pick up that small movement, even if we are not completely aware of it. And in turn, this could cause our brain to alert us that someone is watching us.
The human brain also has an incredible ability to understand the actions and emotions of other people.
This is possible thanks to brain circuits in which mirror neurons participate, which They are activated when we perform an action or when we see someone do the same and, without talking to her, we understand what she is doing.
These neurons are heavily involved in empathy and interpreting the intentions of others.
It could be that, in certain social situations, mirror neurons help us detect if someone is watching us, since they serve to sense or understand other people’s intentions in an almost automatic way.
Thus, when someone looks at us, our brain could be processing that information, even without us knowing it consciously.
We are the navel of the world
Sometimes we think that everyone is watching what we do and whether we do it right or wrong. Or we are so egocentric that we consider ourselves the navel of the world. This phenomenon is known as the effect spotlight.
When we are in new or uncomfortable situations, we tend to think that others are paying attention to us more than they really do.
For example, if you arrive late to class, you probably feel like everyone is staring at you, even though most of your classmates may not have even noticed you coming.
Does our mind play with us?
Another possible psychological explanation is confirmation bias. This phenomenon occurs when we search for, interpret, or remember information that confirms what we already believe. That is to say, that we tend to believe what we want to believe.
If you think someone is watching you, you’re likely to pay more attention to any small movement or gesture that confirms it.
Additionally, if you have ever had the experience of feeling like someone was paying attention to you and then found out that it was true, you may have conditioned your brain to have the same feeling in similar situations.
And this is when our mind plays tricks on us, making us feel like we are being watched when in reality we are not.
In more extreme cases, the feeling of receiving other people’s gaze may be related to mild paranoia, especially in those who suffer from anxiety or feel insecure in social situations.
These people can interpret any small gesture as a sign that are being judged or monitoredwhich reinforces the feeling of being watched.
But don’t worry, feeling like someone is watching you doesn’t necessarily mean you’re paranoid.