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Sometimes a fresh perspective can entirely change how an object appears. Look at a simple glass of water up close. The light refracts through the transparent liquid and its container in an entirely different way than it does if you observe the cup from above or from far away. Somehow, your brain still recognizes what it is, no matter how the shadows, lighting, and angles distort it. <\/p>\n
This ability to make sense of what\u2019s in front of your eyes despite changes in angle, light, and position was once thought to be limited to higher mammalian brains. However, a recent Tel Aviv University study<\/a>, published in Science Advances, challenges this idea. In the study, researchers tracked brain activity in turtles<\/a> and found that they can respond to unexpected visual stimuli in a stable and consistent way, despite changes in viewpoint. <\/p>\n A Common Ancestor Over the next 320 million years, mammalian brains evolved to have a six-layered cortex, while their reptilian relatives retained a simpler three-layered structure. <\/p>\n An Evolutionary Ability A team at Tel Aviv University, led by Milan Becker, Nimrod Leberstein, and Mark Shein-Idelson, set out to challenge this idea. Researchers tracked the eye movements and brain activity of turtles as the animals responded to both expected and new visual stimuli. The data revealed that turtles can process these stimuli in a stable way, even as they move their heads or eyes and perceive them from different angles. <\/p>\n The research demonstrates that this visual processing skill likely emerged much earlier than previously thought and that humans and turtles share this ability. <\/p>\n A Useful Skill \u201cImagine you\u2019re an animal on land, looking around, and there\u2019s a predator,\u201d Shein-Idelson explained to The Times of Israel. \u201cThis predator falls on some part of the retina. You locate it in a particular direction. Now, you move your eye or your head, and the [image of the] predator falls on a different part of the retina. Is it the same predator? The retina changes with every shift of your gaze, but the objects in the world don\u2019t necessarily. So the animal must integrate the object and the environment into a coherent understanding that is independent of eye movements. This is a major challenge when you are on land and rely on vision,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n It\u2019s clear how this ability would have given Earth\u2019s early land creatures a significant evolutionary advantage, just as it helps humans today make sense of the world around them. Some of the human brain\u2019s<\/a> most helpful traits may be deeply rooted in a shared evolutionary past. <\/p>\n YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: \n\t\t\t\tADINA ROSEN, \n\t\tAdina is a writer who believes in the transformative power of words. She understands that everyone has a valuable story to tell. Adina\u2019s goal is to learn new things every day and share her discoveries with others.\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t
Mammals and reptiles are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor that left the water and adapted to life on land at least 320 million years ago, according to The Times of Israel<\/a>. This ancestor likely had a brain with a three-layered cerebral cortex and more advanced visual abilities than earlier aquatic life. <\/p>\n
The Jerusalem Post<\/a> reported that scientists had long thought that advanced visual<\/a> processing was a skill that had evolved later alongside mammalian brains and was limited to animals with more complex cerebral cortices. <\/p>\n
Researchers explained that this skill helped Earth\u2019s early terrestrial creatures visually distinguish between changes in their environment, including the appearance of predators, and visual changes caused by their own movements. <\/p>\n
More of the Globe\u2019s Sea Turtles Are Doing Swimmingly!<\/a>
Researchers Discover a Way to Restore Vision by \u2018Rebooting\u2019 a Lazy Eye<\/a>
How to Build Up your Cognitive Reserves<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/adina.jpg\")
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