Have you ever walked into an environment that seems familiar — let’s say it’s a chain store that you go to on a regular basis — but you’re temporarily confused because the items and departments aren’t where you expected them to be?

That probably has happened, because though it’s the same store name, it’s in a different part of town or even in a different state and not laid out in the exact same way. That reaction by your brain is known as “repulsion.”

A new study by the University of Arizona looks more closely into how and why that happens — in part by using virtual stores.

Professor Arne Ekstrom led the study, and The Show spoke with him to learn more about the concept.

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