Editing Evolutionary neuroscience (section)

=== Visual perception ===
{{one source|section|date=November 2024|reason=Although quite reputable, Barrett (2020) is excessive used as a solitary citation for the whole article, and is the sole source for this subsection.}}
Vision allows humans to process the world surrounding them to a certain extent. Through the wavelengths of light, the human brain can associate them to a specific event. Although the brain obviously perceives its surroundings at a specific moment, the brain equally predicts the upcoming changes in the environment.<ref name=Barrett-2020/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 66, 72}} Once it has noticed them, the brain begins to prepare itself to encounter the new scenario by attempting to develop an adequate response. This is accomplished by using the data the brain has at its access, which can be to use past experiences and memories to form a proper response.<ref name=Barrett-2020/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 66–67}}</ref> However, sometimes the brain fails to predict accurately which means that the mind perceives a false illustration. Such an incorrect image occurs when the brain uses an inadequate memory to respond to what it is facing, which means that the memory does not correlate with the real scenario.<ref name=Barrett-2020/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 75–76}}

[[File:HarpersWeekly1892-36-p1117.jpg|thumb|The [[rabbit–duck illusion]] is a famous ambiguous image in which a rabbit or a duck can be seen. The earliest known version is an unattributed drawing from the 23&nbsp;October 1892 issue of ''Blätter'' magazine.]]

Research about how visual perception has developed in evolution is today best understood through studying present-day primates since the organization of the brain cannot be ascertained only by analyzing fossilized skulls.

The brain interprets visual information in the occipital lobe, a region in the back of the brain. The occipital lobe contains the visual cortex and the thalamus, which are the two main actors in processing visual information. The process of interpreting information has proven to be more complex than "what you see is what you get". Misinterpreting visual information is more common than previously believed.

As knowledge of the human brain has evolved, researchers discover that our visual perception is much closer to a construction of the brain than a direct "photograph" of what is in front of us. This can lead to misperceiving certain situations or elements in the brain's attempt to keep us safe. For example, an on-edge soldier believes a young child with a stick is a grown man with a gun, as the brain's sympathetic system, or fight-or-flight mode, is activated.<ref name=Barrett-2020/>

An example of this phenomenon can be observed in the [[rabbit-duck illusion]]. Depending on how the image is looked at, the brain can interpret the image of a rabbit, or a duck. There is no right or wrong answer, but it is proof that what is seen may not be the reality of the situation.