Scientists prove blind people can 'see' with sixth sense

The Scotsman ^ | 1 Nov 2005 | Rhiannon Edward

[The Red Zone]

I'd trust the blindfold results better, too.

[endthematrix]

The research, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' (PNAS) online Early Edition

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0505332102v1

[endthematrix]

Want to find God?
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,51699,00.html

[GeronL]

whatever happened to a blindfold?

[glorgau]

The research, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' (PNAS) online Early Edition
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0505332102v1

Yo man, can you lend the $25 it takes to see this? ;-)

[endthematrix]

Sleeping pills are cheaper...

I just wanted to put the reference info here.

[monocle]

Ans:A number of theories have been proposed to explain "blindsight". Generally, it is suggested that other parts of the brain besides the primary visual cortex respond to nerve messages from the eyes at an unconscious level. A blindfold would physically impede images before nerve messages could be sent.

[Andy Ross]

I don't think that this is new. There was a series on television where a famous British-Indian brain specialist (based at a uni in California somewhere) analysed the brain by showing the results of various forms of brain damage.

There was one person whose sight was disabled in a car accident. It wasn't his eyes that were damaged, but the part of his brain that dealt with vision. Even though he couldn't see any objects, he *could* detect motion, and could say, with 100% accuracy, in which direction an object in front of him was moving. They showed that there was a secondary part of the visual components of the brain, which processes these things subconsciously, and it was undamaged in this particular man.

It is this part of the brain which deals with reactions and what have you (the guy would blink if something were flicked near his eye). Really cool series: it was shown on Channel 4 in the UK about 5 years ago.

Andrew

[Northern Alliance]

It's called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and the military (DARPA) is all over it.

Thanks. Any good links - save me the trouble of poking around the web?

[The Duke]

Damn Grasshopper....

...we're gonna need a new scam!

[endthematrix]

This is amazing (brain-machine interface) stuff.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vision.html

Progress In Artificial Vision
The Dobelle Institute's Artificial Eye allows the blind to see.

BY MARK CINA
Published on: June 27, 2002
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/medicine/1281076.html?page=2&c=y

[endthematrix]

Sure. Most of the neuroscience and brain mapping withing universities are partly funded by DARPA. This is for the brain-machine interface program.

May 9, 2002
MUSC To Develop Brain Stimulation Device For Military

CHARLESTON, SC -- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today that it has awarded the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) a Phase I/II contract to develop a portable brain stimulation device for use by the military to alleviate the effects of sleep deprivation on soldiers' performance. The contract, entitled Creating a Man-portable Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation System (TMS) to Improve War-fighter Performance


See: Miguel Nicolelis from Duke University, North Carolina implanted about one hundred electrodes into brains of an owl monkey and used the recorded signals to muscles to control a robot arm.

[metmom]

I'd heard of blind people who could accurately detect flashes of light, too. The conclusion was much the same, that the visual part of seeing isn't all there is to what we call sight. Fascinating stuff.