Title: Why Can We Sense When People Are Looking at Us?
Headings: Why Can We Sense When People Are Looking at Us?
Why Can We Sense When People Are Looking at Us?
Gaze-Detection System
Body Language
Sclera and Gaze-Detection

Content: Why Can We Sense When People Are Looking at Us? Science Natural Science
Why Can We Sense When People Are Looking at Us? By
Laura Moss
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University of South Carolina
Laura Moss is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience writing about science, nature, culture, and the environment. our editorial process
Laura Moss
Updated May 14, 2020
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If you’ve ever felt like someone was watching you, you may have attributed that awareness to a sense of unease or a prickling on the back of your neck. But there’s nothing psychic about it; your brain was simply picking up on cues. In fact, your brain is wired to inform you that someone is looking at you — even when they’re not. “Far from being ESP, the perception originates from a system in the brain that's devoted to detecting where others are looking,” writes social psychologist Ilan Shrira. This concept may sound confusing, but it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it as a survival instinct. Gaze-Detection System
Many mammals can tell when another animal is looking at them, but the human “gaze-detection system” is particularly good at doing this from a distance.