A viral image of Adele has left social media users stunned due to a phenomenon called the “Thatcher Effect,” which distorts the way we perceive faces. This psychological illusion was first coined in 1980 by Professor Peter Thompson of the University of York, using an image of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It demonstrates how the brain fails to notice alterations in an inverted face, particularly when features like eyes or mouth are flipped, but detects the errors when the face is upright.
The Adele image, in particular, baffles viewers because, although her face is turned upside down, it takes a moment to realize something is off. The most surprising aspect is that her eyes and mouth are actually in their correct positions, despite appearing odd in the upside-down orientation. Only when the image is flipped back to its normal orientation does it become apparent that the eyes and mouth are now upside down.
The illusion was popularized by clinical psychologist Dr. Julie Smith, who shared a TikTok video showing a series of altered celebrity photos, including Barack Obama and Kanye West, to demonstrate the Thatcher Effect. In her viral video, Dr. Smith invites viewers to examine images of celebrities where the facial features are inverted but still seem to resemble the original person. She then encourages them to flip the image back to its usual orientation, revealing the startling distortions.
The Thatcher Effect occurs because our brains are specialized to recognize faces in their typical orientation, focusing on the overall configuration of facial features. When a face is upside down, we cannot easily process localized changes, like flipped eyes or mouth, even though those same distortions are glaringly obvious when the image is upright. This unique cognitive process makes faces seem familiar, even when they are subtly altered in an upside-down position, until the brain has the opportunity to assess the image from a conventional angle.
This illusion has since been demonstrated with many different faces, and while it was originally thought to work only with Thatcher’s image, it has been proven effective on others, including famous political figures and celebrities. The phenomenon highlights the complexity of facial recognition and how our brains are wired to interpret faces based on their upright orientation. Ultimately, the Thatcher Effect reveals a fascinating quirk of human perception, showing how easily we can be tricked when looking at inverted faces.
