Hermits Need Not Apply
People often live in seclusion, away from society and all of the worldly distractions it offers. But according to a new paper published by the Royal Society, they might not truly live in isolation after all.
The paper explores how the human retina is able to see at night without any input from external light sources. It's been long debated whether or not such activity is possible without any outside stimuli. The team of researchers behind the paper have used experiments to show that the retina is inundated with a constant flow of information that has been missed by scientists until now.
Every moving object leaves an imprint on the retina. These imprints are called 'visual evoked potentials', and they can be seen when a person's eyes are closed. The team used 25 participants, all of which were sitting in the dark and staring at a cross on a computer screen, while they recorded their visual responses via electrodes attached to their eyes. They then compared these results with people who were in complete darkness and people who had their eyes open but were looking at nothing in particular.
The unexpected findings are that people who are in the dark still see 'imaginary light' whereas the eyes of those who are open in the dark do not. The team believes that this phenomenon is due to subliminal, random stimuli. This could be anything from sunlight to reflections off of buildings and rain. The brain is able to decipher the information, even if it's not consciously aware of it.
The study's author, Dr Mike Anderson, said "We know that our eyes can detect a single photon, so theoretically we should be able to detect single particles of light in the darkness if they're bright enough…So we thought maybe our visual system is actually picking up these light flashes. If they are bright enough, we should be able to see them."
These findings could change our understanding of how the retina works. Dr Anderson said "When we think about vision and the eye, we tend to think that it's an environmental light detector, that it is only sensitive to light coming from the outside world. But actually, from a neuroscience perspective what these experiments tell us is that the visual system has a number of quite separate channels that can extract information about light flashes even in total darkness." He continued "That's really surprising for a lot of people because it's so unexpected that you are still seeing something when you close your eyes. It suggests that there are quite a lot of internal mechanisms that are working in the visual system, and it's not just doing things in line with what we expect."
If these findings are correct, it could have significant implications for the way scientists view their visual systems. Dr Anderson said "It's really interesting to think about the implications of our work because it really challenges the way we look at vision. We tend to think that vision has one single function and one single way of working, but this work seems to suggest quite a different picture."
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Scientists from the Royal Society have found that the brain continues to work even when its owner is blind. This study suggests that the brain has subliminal stimuli, otherwise known as "visual evoked potentials" that are able to be picked up in complete darkness. This means that humans may not truly live in isolation after all, and may need to adjust their perception of what solitude really means. Uploaded by Nature Bakery (1 hr 28 mins ago)
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Conclusion
Many people believe that the brain simply cannot function without light, but the new discovery that suggests the brain is still capable of functioning in complete darkness could change how scientists view their visual system. Scientists at Cambridge University were able to find proof that individuals can indeed see when they are blind. The researchers found that individuals can see in complete darkness and were able to correctly identify moving images. This could be a big deal for scientific research because it may force scientists to reevaluate their understanding of how the human eye works. The results could actually change our understanding of vision, which could open up a world of potential new research and information on human vision and perception.
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Hermits Need Not Apply