Does this colourful spiral spin or not? This hypnotic optical illusion will test your eyes and your mind

This optical illusion might not look like much at first glance, but give it a minute of your time and you’ll soon change your mind. Your eyes will begin to see movement as soon as you look at the image of the colourful spiral - but it’s actually staying totally still.

Look once, look twice, look three times - no matter how many times you look, your eyes will continue to deceive you to make you think the spiral is spinning.

So, what exactly does the illusion show and why does it appear to spin? Here’s everything you need to know.

What does the optical illusion show?

At first glance, the image shows a multi-coloured spiral against a blue background. But, it doesn’t take long for the image to start to change the longer you look at it.

If you stare into the middle of this spiral, it will begin to blur and spin, even though the image itself is completely static. Take a look at the image below and see if it moves for you.

Why does the spiral start moving?

Staring at this spiral pattern produces a hypnotic effect known as spiral motion aftereffect. The motion aftereffect is a powerful illusion of motion in the visual image experienced after viewing a moving visual stimulus for a time, usually between tens of milliseconds to minutes, with stationary eyes, and then fixating a stationary stimulus.

The stationary stimulus then appears to move in the opposite direction to the original moving stimulus. The motion aftereffect is believed to be the result of motion adaptation. The spiral aftereffect can be seen when someone looks at the centre of a rotating spiral for several seconds.

The spiral can exhibit outward or inward motion. When one then looks at any stationary pattern, it appears to be moving in the opposite direction. Some scientists believe that the objects appear to be moving due to involuntary eye movements.

Other scientists suggested that the changes in neurons, which give the illusion of movement, can confuse the motion detectors in your visual cortex. It is not known what actually causes people to see the spiral to move.

It’s no surprise then that it’s even been said that staring at this type of spiral image can impact your ability to read words for a short while afterwards too, as they can temporarily jump around in front of your eyes. So, this really is an illusion to test the eyes and the mind.

Where has the optical illusion come from?

The optical illusion has been created and shared by Jackpotjoy, which is home to a range of online bingo, live casino and slot games.

How can I see more optical illusions?

Check out our optical illusions page for more mind-bending images. Find out if you think with your head or your heart by simply seeing which animal you can see first in this image.

If you were a fan of the Magic Eye illusions, see if you can spot the giraffe in this image, which has been inspired by those iconic illusions. Test your eyesight even further with this artist’s drawing illusion, which will also reveal something about your personality.