Re: [Phys-l] images in eye

["John M Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

One interesting sidenote is that people who were sighted, but are now 
blind can have their sight sort of restored.  They project the image 
onto the skin and after a while the mind generates the image in the 
brain.  They describe it as seeing again, in a fuzzy fashion. 
Typically the image is projected on the most sensative part of the 
body, the tongue.  So the brain is very flexible in re-encoding 
sensory information.

John M. Clement
Houston, Tx

> From: Anthony Lapinski <Anthony_Lapinski@pds.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 10:23:03 AM
> > Many were surprised to learn
> > that the images on their retina are also inverted. Our brains 
> > somehow make
> > us see things normally. I figure it's complicated, but does anyone 
> > know
> > the exact mechanism by which the brain "flips" these retinal images 
> > so
> > that we see them as upright? Did evolution play any role in this?
>
> The brain doesn't flip the image back over. There is no "inner you" 
> that looks at the image made by the retina. 
>  
> Further the bundle of nerves in optic nerve don't maintain 
> orientation as it takes the information to the brain. The brain just 
> gets a muddle, but that's okay. The brain learns as you learn to see 
> that a particular sets of sensory responses corresponds to particular 
> things seen. This method is very flexible since it allows you to make 
> sense of objects and events without having to have those objects 
> built into your genome. On the other hand, it does mean that you need 
> time to learn to make sense of these senory impressions, which can 
> take years.
>  
> Marc "Zeke" Kossover
> The Jewish Community High School of the Bay
>
>
>      
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