What happens to your brain when you know you are being watched

Psychological research has shown that surveillance enhances a person's subconscious understanding of being watched. This affects the way the brain processes sensory information.

Psychologists from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) worked with 54 participants to investigate the impact of surveillance on an important function of human sensory perception - the ability to detect another person's gaze. The study showed that the participants of the experiment could recognize faces faster during observation without being aware of this perception, SciTechDaily writes.

A new psychological study has shown that when people know that they are under surveillance, it creates an automatic reaction of heightened awareness that they are being watched. This has implications for the mental health of the population, scientists say.

The study's lead author, Kiley Seymour, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior, said previous studies have established the impact on conscious behavior when people know they are being watched. But the new analysis provides the first direct evidence that surveillance also has an involuntary response.

"We know CCTV changes our behavior, and that’s the main driver for retailers and others wanting to deploy such technology to prevent unwanted behavior. However, we show it’s not only overt behavior that changes – our brain changes the way it processes information," she said.

The researcher emphasized that she had found direct evidence that surveillance by video cameras significantly affects a fixed and involuntary function of human sensory perception - the ability to consciously recognize faces.

The scientist said that given the growing level of surveillance in society and the debate over privacy reform, the study's findings suggest the need for a more thorough examination of the impact of surveillance on mental processes and public health in general.

"The ability to rapidly detect faces is of critical importance to human social interactions. Information conveyed in faces, such as gaze direction, enables us to construct models of other people’s minds and to use this information to predict behavior," the scientist emphasized.

"Whilst this investigation was specifically focussed on unconscious social processes, future investigations should explore effects on the limbic system more broadly, which would have more general implications for public mental health and the importance of privacy," Seymour concluded.

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