Originally published November 3 2005
Houston study suggests new relationship between the brain and visual data
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Rice University researchers have shown in a recent study that the mind can unconsciously process visual information even when process-relevant areas of the brain are shut down.
The research, published the week of Oct. 31 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' (PNAS) online Early Edition, suggests the brain has more than one pathway along which visual information can be sent.
For the study, the researchers induced temporary, reversible blindness lasting only a fraction of a second in nine volunteers with normal vision.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a harmless noninvasive technique using brief magnetic pulses, was applied to the volunteers' visual cortex -- the area at the back of the brain that processes what the eye sees - to interrupt the normal visual pathway.
The volunteers looked at a computer screen, and during their momentary blindness, either a horizontal or a vertical line or a red or a green dot flashed on the screen.
Because only a certain region of the thalamus - the area of the brain where all sensory information is relayed -- can process color, the study provides evidence that there must be a pathway that goes through this region of the thalamus to the higher visual centers of the brain, Ro said.
"In addition to providing direct evidence that unconscious processing takes place within the brain - a controversial claim that was advanced by the likes of Sigmund Freud and William James - our results suggest that multiple pathways relay visual input into the central nervous system for different types of processing," Ro said.
The phenomenon of "blindsight" has been reported in patients with brain damage who report not seeing something but correctly identify the shape and location when forced to guess.
Ro noted that his study demonstrates that TMS can be used successfully to induce blindsight in people with normal vision.
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