Have You Tried the Coat Hanger Challenge Yet?
This is so dumb it can't possibly be true, right? Have you tried the "Hanger Challenge" yet? Because it's all over TikTok . . .
All you do is take a coat hanger . . . wedge your head in it, so the hook points to one side . . . then close your eyes . . . and your head will involuntarily start turning.
Most people who've tried it are shocked when it actually WORKS. And there's some science to back it up.
It's a real thing called the "hanger reflex" that was first documented in 1991.
A study in 2015 tried it on 120 people, and it worked on 96% of them. For some reason, your head tends to want to turn away from the hook. (There are videos of people's head turning toward the hook too though.)
Scientists still don't know why it happens, but it's not just about seeing the hook in your peripheral vision. In one study, researchers built a ridiculous-looking hat to test different pressure points on people's heads. (Here's a video.)
They were able to recreate the coat hanger reflex with it. So that apparently has something to do with it.
(Here's some TikTok bro trying it.)
Originally posted on May 23rd, 2022