Brain Teaser Alert: How Many Animals Can You Spot In This Classic Puzzle?

Everybody experiences occasional difficulty focusing and maintaining concentration. Solving a difficult brain-teasing problem motivates you to stay focused due to the dopamine rush you experience when you figure out the solution. Brain teasers are puzzles or challenges intended to test and challenge the cognitive abilities of an individual. They frequently call for imaginative thinking, innovative problem-solving and analytical skills. Logic games, riddles and puzzles are a few examples of brain teasers. They provide mental stimulation and improve cognitive function in an enjoyable way.

Here’s a classic brainteaser for folks who enjoy pushing their mental limits:

What you see in this picture are several animals drawn in such a way that they are merged in with one another. You may initially only be able to identify the creatures that this brainteaser intends for you to see, but closer inspection will reveal many more hidden animals. Therefore, the number of animals you can find truly depends on your ability to observe.

The post, which was shared on X (formerly Twitter), has more than 2 lakh views.

As expected, there were as many different responses as many comments.

Some were able to guess 4, some 6 and some were able to spot as high as 11.

A user said, “I can spot 7.”

Another user commented, “At least 10.”

“Do the tapeworms count?” read another comment.

The highest, 11, went on to list the spotted animals.

How many are you able to spot?

Brain teaser games have been shown to favourably affect the central nervous system and activate the stress route, which alters brain signals and increases cognitive features like attention in players, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine.

Based on the research, players’ attention positively affects logic and limits the stress produced when playing brainteaser games.

By stimulating the brain’s frontal lobe, the two forms of stress–Logic stress and Limit stress–enhance cognitive functions including focus, attention and problem-solving skills.

Logic stress is typically seen in puzzle games where there is no loss or time constraint. Playing puzzle games helps to improve prefrontal cortex function, which is crucial for thinking, decision-making, focus, and problem-solving skills.

Limit stress is most commonly observed in runner games when the player fears losing. The HPA axis is triggered by the dread of losing, which raises cortisol and α-amylase and causes time stress. Players’ attention, focus, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination all significantly improve under time stress.