Sleights of Mind considers the greater implications of magic and misdirection for clinical conditions such as autism, and for everyday life situations, including choice and trust in personal and business relationships.

Sleights of Mind introduces Neuromagic as a new area of scientific endeavor, a discipline aimed to uncover the interaction between brain science and the art of magic.

Working with renowned magicians like Apollo Robbins, Teller, Mac King, and James Randi, Macknik and Martinez-Conde research the ways in which the perceptual and cognitive elements of magic relate to more than simple deceits.

They describe how if you have ever bought an expensive item you had sworn you would never buy, the salesperson was creating the "illusion of choice", a core technique of magic.

Through these examples, Sleights of Mind illuminates the reasons for studying magic, and its implications for research on, and renewed understanding of, perceptual and cognitive processes.