To discover what is real and what is imagined, scientists from the University of Rochester in New York monitored the brains of ferrets as the animals were forced to watch clips of “The Matrix.”

The researchers wired the brains of ferrets as the animals watched the Keanu, as well as when they watched TV static and when they sat in complete darkness.
Some of the animals were young and had just opened their eyes, others were slightly more mature and the rest were adults.

While the young ferrets showed almost no brain patterns that correlated with the different visual inputs, the adult ferrets’ brains were teeming with orderly activity — even as they sat in the dark.

When the adult animals saw the movie or the TV static, their brain activity increased by 20 percent and reflected the images they saw. But inside the minds of the young ferrets, there was activity, and it did not change or reflect according to whether it was in darkness, watching static or the sci-fi film.

According to lead researcher, Michael Weliky, the study suggests that as we grow and mature, our brains learn to identify outside images by matching them with our internal understanding of the world. While a young ferret (or child) may notice static or movies, it can’t distinguish between them. Adults, meanwhile, have a history of vision to be able to distinguish between the two. “This and other research suggests that we may not always be as in charge as we might think,” he added.

Via ABC.
Press release.