How to See (Neurobiology)

How to seeHow to seePerception and sensationPerception and sensation

David AguilarJuly, 2014

Primary Visual CortexPrimary Visual CortexPrimary visual cortex - the portion of the cerebral cortex of the brain that

receives and processes impulses from the optic nerves.

A couple main components involved that contribute to vision, as seen on the left, are the following: cornea, lens, retina, the optic nerve, the optic chiasm, the optic tract, the

thalamus (lateral geniculate nucleus), optic radiation, and the occipital lobe (where the visual

cortex resides).

Can you believe everything we see is happening in the back of our

head?

Higher Visual ProcessHigher Visual Process(In the Back of the Head)(In the Back of the Head)

Ventral Stream - “What?” recognizes pieces and fragments of the object being seen.

Dorsal Stream - “Where?” analyzes spatial motion and interacts with movement efficacy and visual processes.

Both streams provide significant contribution towards sensing, selecting and perceiving information.

SensingSensingSensing is greatly executed by the eyes and the nervous system, sensing it’s not synonymous with perceiving - which is done by the mind.

External objects, the gross substance, can be sensed in various ways. Particularly, the eyes act as the apparatus from which the sense of sight can be performed.

Sensing doesn’t equal perceiving. Meaning it doesn’t have to make sense at first, but everything will be alright, keep on going mate. You’re wonderful and clever.

SelectingSelecting

Selecting - to choose in preference to another or others; pick out.

A large portion of selecting involves where the attention is set in the external field, be it by internal thoughts regarding psychological factors or physiological, pleasant to the eye, attributes. Which is to say its a part of the process of the mind, hence a process of perception.

In being able to distinguish a given object through, to single out as in the apple picture above, the fovea centralis, also known as macula, fixates and makes the object clearer and sharper - with the help of the active cones inside the eye in improving vision acuity. Therefore, dulling the surrounding area and leaves the rest unwanted or not perceived.

Macula

PerceivingPerceiving

Perceiving - to become aware of, know, or identify by means of the senses [conscious appreciation]

The act of perceiving is formed and integrated with memories. For example, when a person grows a habit and remembers the environmental factors, it perceives rapidly. Contrary, when in a new area, it senses rapidly but doesn’t quite perceive as evenly fast.

How we Perceive? With the neocortex. A stimulus is introduced into the eye and the nervous system modulates the light and turns it into an electrical signal, which is transmitted to the cerebral cortex. Perception is established.

How I seeHow I see

“We’re not born knowing how to see, we learn how to see.” - Peggy Mason

I’m a healthy 19 year old male, except for one damaged factor, my eyesight. I wear spectacles and contacts, not simultaneously, to serve as a crutch to instantly aid in my vision. Without them, uneasiness forms and blurred surfaces look wrong. I like to consider myself a positivist, and believe everything happens for a reason to strengthen ourselves in our misfortunes. Therefore I haven’t lost hope and will seek for a practical solution in learning how to see better at this age, eventually acquiring an eyesight that will no longer need any instantaneous refractive lenses to aid my eyes. That is my hope and the way I see things now are becoming clearer, thank you neurobiology for enlightening the way I see the world, full of constructive failures and endless possibilities.

How This Course Helped How This Course Helped Me Better Analyze Myself Me Better Analyze Myself

and My Environmentand My EnvironmentA realization of my present condition, particularly the current state of my eyes, and the events that led down the path of becoming myopic (shortsightedness) - mostly due to sitting-indoors-obsessively-fixating into a TV. Now that I’m aware of it, and because of the few opportunities stated for the recuperation of eyesight by scientific orthodox announcements, I will study other ways to improve vision acuity and see, hopefully, new techniques for the betterment of our species.

Its exciting to recognize bits and pieces of the powerful function of the eye when looking at the outside stimuli now. For instance, when I perceive my friend wearing a vibrant blood velvet dress under the sun, I recognize what’s going through my head as it passes through the cornea, focusing the light, passing the lens, opening and closing depending on lighting conditions, hitting the macula on the retina, which fixates on the object for clarity. The rest goes on. My objective with learning this valuable information is to keep my eyes on check and seek what’s real, in this case the wavelength which is interpreted by the brain as the color red. To know what to say, what to do and fix, exercise, and learn how to see so in as much as to help the younger generations to come, specifically my younger brothers, before its to late. Thank you.

ReferencesReferences

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/selecting

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perceiving

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/visual+cortex

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sensing