The results confirm an intuitive bond people feel with their shady outlines. “Our brains instinctively view our shadows as an extension of our bodies, a new research has shown.

Subjects in the study reacted to stimuli near the shadow of one hand as if the stimuli were affecting the hand itself, found Francesco Pavani, at Royal Holloway University of London, UK, and Umberto Castiello, at the Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy.” —New Scientist