I have a different theory: programming shuts down half your brain, giving all the juice to the other half.

When I stop for lunch, the world is in 2D for a while. Then after a few minutes it springs into 3D. I have to guess, that half my brain has been looking through its one eye mostly, coding with all its might. The other half is idling away, not even processing much visually.

I know, the right-brain left-brain thing is not universal. But for me, that's how it works.