It has been argued that faces are a special type of stimuli, which we are able to process easier than other items in the environment. For example, young infants prefer to look at features forming a face, rather than scrambled features (e.g., Johnson & Morton, 1991), which suggests that we have this enhanced ability to process … Read more
If you read my post on visual neglect, (or if not you can read it here), you will know that damage to the right posterior parietal cortex can cause patients to be biased to information on the right side, and ignore stimuli on the left. This is because each hemisphere processes visual information from the … Read more
Have you ever wondered how scientists work out that certain structures in the brain are responsible for certain functions? For example, that the back part of the brain is responsible for vision, or that the back of the frontal lobe is what enables us to move. This information has been gathered using various neuroimaging methods … Read more
Can you imagine only being able to see one thing at a time? This is the struggle faced by patients with Simultanagnosia – an extremely rare visual disorder. The reason this is so rare is that it is caused by damage to the posterior parietal cortex (shown in light blue below) but on BOTH sides … Read more
Visual Extinction is a condition caused by damage to the parietal lobe, and is similar, although distinct from Visual Neglect. It is characterised by the ability to see stimuli in the opposite visual field to the brain damage, but only when there is no competition from other stimuli in the visual field on the same … Read more
I’m back with a video from the psychologist who inspired me to study this subject at uni – V.S. Ramachandran. This TED talk looks at what makes us human and how studying neuroscience can link questions from philosophy to psychology. It also mentions Capgras syndrome – when patients with brain damage to the area of … Read more
This is a neurological condition that is caused by damage to one if the hemispheres of the brain. This damage causes the patient to be unable to pay attention to one half of their visual field – they just ignore everything in it. This condition – sometimes known as unilateral neglect, is most common when … Read more
How is it that we are able to see in colour? The process starts with light hitting the photoreceptors in the retina. As you might remember from my last post, there are two different types of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Rods are used when are eyes are adapted to the dark, while cones are used … Read more
How is it that we can see the world around us? It’s quite a bit more complicated than most people think – not simply light hitting the retina and an inverted picture being turned the right way round. Here’s an overview of how we are able to see. First of all, light enters the eye … Read more
Hi, I’m back after a break for Christmas and exams with a topic I find fascinating – phantom limbs. My interest on this topic stems from reading ‘Phantoms in the Brain’ by V.S. Ramachandran – I’f you’re at all interested in psychology and neuroscience then I really recommend it 🙂 So what is a phantom … Read more