**Pareidolia** (/ˌpærɪˈdoʊliə,ˌpɛər-/;[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-1)also US: /ˌpɛəraɪ-/)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-2) is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus "Stimulus (physiology)"), usually visual, so that one detects an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none. Pareidolia is a specific but common type of apophenia (the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things or ideas). Common examples include perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations; seeing faces in inanimate objects; or lunar pareidolia like the Man in the Moon or the Moon rabbit. The concept of pareidolia may extend to include hidden messages in recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing voices (mainly indistinct) or music in random noise, such as that produced by air conditioners or by fans.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-3)[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-4) Face pareidolia has also been demonstrated in rhesus macaques.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-5) ## Etymology \ [edit\] The word derives from the Greek words _pará_ (παρά, "beside, alongside, instead \[of\]") and the noun _eídōlon_ (εἴδωλον, "image, form, shape").[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-theatlantic.com-6) Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum introduced the German term _Pareidolie_ in his 1866 paper "_Die Sinnesdelierien_"[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-7) ("On Delusion of the Senses"). When Kahlbaum's paper was reviewed the following year (1867) in _The Journal of Mental Science_, Volume 13, _Pareidolie_ was translated into English as "pareidolia", and noted to be synonymous with the terms "...changing hallucination, partial hallucination, \[and\] perception of secondary images."[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-8) ## Link to other conditions \ [edit\] Pareidolia correlates with age and is frequent among patients with Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-9) ## Explanations \ [edit\] Pareidolia can cause people to interpret random images, or patterns of light and shadow, as faces.[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-10) A 2009 magnetoencephalography study found that objects perceived as faces evoke an early (165 ms) activation of the fusiform face area at a time and location similar to that evoked by faces, whereas other common objects do not evoke such activation. This activation is similar to a slightly faster time (130 ms) that is seen for images of real faces. The authors suggest that face perception evoked by face-like objects is a relatively early process, and not a late cognitive reinterpretation phenomenon.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-pmid19218867-11) A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in 2011 similarly showed that repeated presentation of novel visual shapes that were interpreted as meaningful led to decreased fMRI responses for real objects. These results indicate that the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli depends upon processes similar to those elicited by known objects.[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-pmid22079921-12) Pareidolia was found to affect brain function and brain waves. In a 2022 study, EEG records show that responses in the frontal and occipitotemporal cortexes begin prior to when one recognizes faces and later, when they are not recognized.[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-13) By displaying these proactive brain waves, scientists can then have a basis for data rather than relying on self-reported sightings. \ _[clarification needed_\] These studies help to explain why people generally identify a few lines and a circle as a "face" so quickly and without hesitation. Cognitive processes are activated by the "face-like" object which alerts the observer to both the emotional state and identity "Identity (philosophy)") of the subject, even before the conscious mind begins to process or even receive the information. A "stick figure face", despite its simplicity, can convey mood information, and be drawn to indicate emotions such as happiness or anger. This robust and subtle capability is hypothesized to be the result of natural selection favoring people most able to quickly identify the mental state, for example, of threatening people, thus providing the individual an opportunity to flee or attack preemptively.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-recog-14) This ability, though highly specialized for the processing and recognition of _human_ emotions, also functions to determine the demeanor of wildlife.[\[15\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-dog-15)\ _[self-published source?_\] ## Pareidolia and creative thinking \ [edit\] Pareidolia plays a significant role in creative cognition, enabling artists and viewers to perceive novel forms and meanings in ambiguous stimuli.[\[16\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-16) Joanne Lee highlights that this phenomenon has been harnessed in artistic practices for centuries ( Da Vinci for example).[\[17\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-17) The phenomenon was particularly important to surrealism, where artists like Salvador Dali, influenced by André Breton, embraced pareidolic ambiguity to challenge rationalist perceptions and provoke new ways of seeing.[\[18\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-18)