What is phantom vibration syndrome?

If you feel your phone vibrating but there's no one there, you're not alone.

Ceri Perkins
Published: September 28, 2022 at 10:00 am

What is phantom vibration syndrome?

Ever felt your phone buzz in your pocket, then pulledit out to find no text, no call, no notification? You might be experiencing‘phantom vibration syndrome’–and you’re not alone. According to one study,9的大学生说他们had experienced the phenomenonin the last week or month.

Scientists aren’t exactly sure why these tactile hallucinations happen to so many of us. One leading theory is that our excessive smartphone use, and ourcreeping sense that we should be constantly available, have conditioned our brains to overinterpret sensations such as clothing moving against our skin. On the plus side, most people don’t find the phantom signals bothersome.

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Ceri Perkins is a New York City-based writer and editor who covers the environment, science, nature and human behaviour. As a freelancer, she has lived around the world, from Madrid to the Scottish Highlands. Before going freelance, Ceri was based in Geneva, Switzerland, as a staff writer/editor at CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider. Later, she was News Editor at NYC-based magazine Spectrum, where she edited news and opinion stories about the neuroscience and genetic underpinnings of autism. In her spare time, Ceri is typically either outdoors in nature or curled up inside with a stack of books and a pile of things to make or fix. She holds a Bachelor’s in Atmospheric Science, a Master's in Science Communication, and you can read her work inTED Ideas,BBC Earth,The Guardian,Physics World,New Scientistand more.
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