Silent Sounds: Study Reveals Our Ability to Perceive Absence

A study conducted by philosophers and psychologists at Johns Hopkins University suggests that silence can be "heard" and that the brain perceives and processes silence in a similar way to sounds. Using auditory illusions, the researchers demonstrated that moments of silence can distort our perception of time, much like sounds do. The findings challenge the notion that silence is merely the absence of sound and open up new avenues for studying the perception of absence in sensory perception. The researchers plan to further investigate the extent to which people hear silence and explore other examples of perceived absence, such as visual disappearances.