The Phenomenon of 'Face Pareidolia': Seeing Religious Imagery in Food Perfectly Normal

Whether it's a piece of toast or a breakfast taco, people around the world have "miraculously" spotted Jesus and other religious figures on their food. However, a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto shows that this happening is not too uncommon. In fact, it's otherwise known as the phenomenon of 'face pareidolia'-recognizing familiar images in everyday things.

"Most people think you have to be mentally abnormal to see these types of images, so individuals reporting this phenomenon are often ridiculed," said lead researcher Prof. Kang Lee of the University of Toronto's Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, via a press release. "But our findings suggest that it's common for people to see non-existent features because human brains are uniquely wired to recognize faces, so that even when there's only a slight suggestion of facial features the brain automatically interprets it as a face."

For the study, researchers showed pictures to 20 healthy people with good eyesight in China. The pictures were referred to as "pure noise" by the researchers, all of which had been produced with scanning technologies. Fifty percent of the pictures contained images of either faces or letters.

Findings showed that study participants reported seeing faces in 34 percent of the images and letters in 38 percent of the images they were shown. Brain scans also revealed that the frontal and occipitotemporal regions of the brain were active, with specific neural networks responsible for the phenomena, which has been around for centuries.

"Our findings suggest that human face processing has a strong topdown component whereby sensory input with even the slightest suggestion of a face can result in the interpretation of a face," the researchers said, via CNN. 

Interpreted images may also be influenced by what many are expecting or hoping to see.

"Seeing 'Jesus in toast' reflects our brain's normal functioning and the active role that the frontal cortex plays in visual perception," they added, via the news organization. "Instead of the phrase 'seeing is believing' the results suggest that 'believing is seeing.'"

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Cortex.

Want to see faces in more food? Check out this link, courtesy of Buzzfeed.