Is what we see indeed reality? How do our perceptions of the world around us really affect our cognition? Susana Martinez-Conde is a neuroscientist, author, and professor at the State University of New York. Her research bridges perceptual, oculomotor, and cognitive neuroscience, and she is best known for her studies on illusions, eye movements and perception, neurological disorders, and attentional misdirection in stage magic. She has published over a hundred articles in prestigious scientific journals, including Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Her discoveries have been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Wired, and many others.She organizes the annual Best Illusion of the Year contest, which inspired her most recent book, Champions of Illusion. Her first book, the bestseller Sleights of Mind, received the Prisma award for the best scientific book of the year.This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx