The Illusionist Brain

The Neuroscience of Magic

Jordi Camí, Luis M. Martínez

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English

Princeton University Press
12 March 2025

Psychology; Popular science; Neurosciences

How magicians exploit the natural functioning of our brains to astonish and amaze us

How do magicians make us see the impossible? The Illusionist Brain takes you on an unforgettable journey through the inner workings of the human mind, revealing how magicians achieve their spectacular and seemingly impossible effects by interfering with your cognitive processes. Along the way, this lively and informative book provides a guided tour of modern neuroscience, using magic as a lens for understanding the unconscious and automatic functioning of our brains.

We construct reality from the information stored in our memories and received through our senses, and our brains are remarkably adept at tricking us into believing that our experience is continuous. In fact, our minds create our perception of reality by elaborating meanings and continuities from incomplete information, and while this strategy carries clear benefits for survival, it comes with blind spots that magicians know how to exploit. Jordi Cam and Luis Martnez explore the many different ways illusionists manipulate our attention-making us look but not see-and take advantage of our individual predispositions and fragile memories.

The Illusionist Brain draws on the latest findings in neuroscience to explain how magic deceives us, surprises us, and amazes us, and demonstrates how illusionists skillfully ""hack"" our brains to alter how we perceive things and influence what we imagine.

By: Jordi Camí, Luis M. Martínez
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780691264325
ISBN 10: 0691264325
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 12 March 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jordi Cam is a medical doctor and professor of pharmacology at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain. He is a member of the Spanish Society of Illusionism. Luis M. Martnez is a neuroscientist at the Spanish National Research Council at the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante.

Reviews for The Illusionist Brain: The Neuroscience of Magic

"""In The Illusionist Brain, Jordi Camí and Luis Martínez elucidate the ways the two disciplines [psychological science and stage magic] can illuminate each other.""---Matthew Hutson, Wall Street Journal ""This exploration of neuroscience through the lens of magic will appeal to science-oriented readers, as it is first and foremost a deep dive into how the brain processes information. It’s also sure to find an audience in anyone who has ever witnessed a magic trick and wondered how the heck it works.""---Ragan O'Malley, Library Journal ""[A] tantalizing study.""---Andrew Robinson, Nature ""Cami and Martinez act like Morpheus, explaining in simple terms, and with compelling examples, the intricate workings of the matrix in our brain. In their book, magic acts as a trigger to learn neuroscience principles that are presented through a fascinating and refreshing viewpoint, and that should also be interesting to the lay reader not acquainted with the sorcerers’ guild.""---Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, Current Biology ""Thanks to this book, readers may arrive at a deeper understanding of daily experience through the intersection of neuroscience and the magical arts. The next time thisreader fi nds himself baffled by a magic trick, reflecting on which cognitive processes were hijacked will be thrilling.""---J. E. Perez, Choice Reviews"