How optical illusions are illuminating vital medical research

New York — At the Museum of Illusions in New York City, around every corner is a wonder for the eyes. There's a vase that's a face, art that moves with you, and a room that seems to go on forever.

It's a funhouse for our perceptions, built for the TikTok age. But the visual tricks are windows into how the mind works, and they fascinate scientists.

"The brain uses all the information it can get to figure out what's in front of it," Dr. Martin Doherty, a psychology professor at the University of East Anglia in England, told CBS News.