So happy to see you: our brains respond emotionally to faces we find in inanimate objects, study reveals

University of Sydney researchers find humans detect and react to illusory faces in the same way they do real faces

Whether in a cloud, the front of a car, or a $28,000 toasted sandwich supposedly resembling the Virgin Mary, seeing faces in inanimate objects is a common experience.

According to new research by the University of Sydney, our brains detect and respond emotionally to these illusory faces the same way they do to real human faces.