It has been discovered by a group of researchers that the brain saves energy by forecasting what it is likely to see.

The visual cortex does not simply react to visual stimuli but proactively predicts what it is likely to see in any given context, claims Boffins in the Dept. of Psychology at the Univ. of Glasgow, working in collaboration with the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany.

According to reports of New Scientist, by doing so it uses less energy to process images, but if something unexpected were to appear in that familiar environment, the visual cortex becomes more active in order to process this information.

Lars Muckli at the University of Glasgow, UK, says, "The brain expects to see things and really just wants to confirm it now and again."

12 volunteers were asked to focus on a cross on a screen, above and below which bars flashed on and off to create the illusion of movement by Muckli and Arjen Alink at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, to reach the conclusion. (With Inputs from Agencies)