Magic in the Mind
Brain Lab
Three quick experiments you can try right here. Each one shows you something real about how your brain works.
- Experiment 1 Reaction Time How fast are your neurons? Wait for the flip, then tap. No best score yet
- Experiment 2 Stroop Challenge Name the ink color, not the word. 30 seconds on the clock. No best score yet
- Experiment 3 Brain Map Match each job to the part of the brain that does it. No best score yet
Your best scores stay in this browser only. Nothing you do here is sent anywhere.
Experiment 1 · Reaction time
How fast are your neurons?
When the dark screen flips to white, tap it as fast as you can (or press the space bar). Tap too early and it’s a false start, so you’ll just try that one again. You get 5 tries.
Reaction test. Press Space or Enter to start, then press again as soon as you hear “Now”.
Your results
- Average
- 0 ms
- Best try
- 0 ms
- False starts
- 0
What your brain just did
When the screen flipped, your eyes sent a signal to your brain, and your brain sent a “tap!” message down to the muscles in your hand. For most people that whole trip takes roughly 200 to 300 milliseconds, about a quarter of a second.
- Eyes see the flip
- Brain decides “go!”
- Muscles tap
Screens and devices add a little delay of their own, so treat these numbers as a fun estimate, not an exact measurement.
Experiment 2 · Stroop challenge
Name the ink, not the word
Color words will pop up painted in ink. Pick the color of the ink, not what the word says. You have 30 seconds. Every ink also has its own pattern and every button has a name, so you can match patterns if some colors are hard to tell apart.
This word says BLUE, but its ink is red, so the right answer is Red.
Keyboard: press 1 2 3 4 or R B G Y
Time’s up!
- Score
- 0 correct
- Accuracy
- 0%
- Answers
- 0
What your brain just did
Reading is so automatic that your brain reads the word even when you try not to, so it has to work extra hard to ignore it and name the ink instead. Scientists call this the Stroop effect, after John Ridley Stroop, who described it in 1935.
Experiment 3 · Brain map
Which part does what?
Different parts of your brain have different jobs. Drag each job card onto the part of the brain that does it. You can also tap a card and then tap a part of the brain, or use the keyboard.
Pick a job card, then the part of the brain that does it. Or drag the card straight onto the brain.
You mapped the whole brain!
- Mistakes
- 0
- Time
- 0 s
What your brain just did
While you played, your occipital lobe took in what you saw, your frontal lobe planned each move, and your cerebellum kept your hand smooth and steady. Every part has its own job, but they all work together as a team.