Neurobiology Blog 1: A Vison Beyond View

 There are five basic human senses, these are: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. They each play an important role in human life. Our sensory system helps us gather and respond to information about the things around us. This aids in our survival. Some people don't perceive senses the same way however, that's not always a "bad" thing. A good example of this is vision. Most of us have either read or heard about the gold & white dress, or for some people, the blue & black dress. After reading the article "The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress", I've learned that there is a "perceptual boundary", as Rogers describes, in the image. Not everyone takes in the color of an object the same. Light enters through our lens then hits the retina in the back of the eye which then sends connections to the brain to process those signals into an image however, some individuals may process that information differently. I learned that this is where color constancy comes into play. The context/surroundings around the object are influencing our perception on the color of the dress (Rogers, 2015). Neuroplasticity also plays a role in this. This brings me to a Ted audio I listened to. This audio was "Isaac Lidsky: How Can Going Blind Give You Vision". Isaac's genetic genes in his retina started to progressively die off. Objects that he was seeing started to morph and disappear. He eventually went completely blind. He created the reality that being blind meant it was a death sentence for independence. However, he decided to change his reality. He graduated from college and got a degree in Law. He confronted the reality of fear and overcame it!

Just because one loses sight, it does not mean it's the end of the world. Yes, sight plays a huge role in our life however, there are other senses we have! Neuroplasticity plays a viable role when one loses a sense. For example, in Isaacs case, losing his sight most likely caused his other senses to "increase". He probably had an increase in smell, hearing, and touch which neuroplasticity played as a compensated form because of his blindness. It allowed for changes. These changes probably helped Isaac adapt over time.

Retrieved from: http://clipart-library.com 

Rogers, A. (2015, February 27). The science of why no one agrees on the color of this dress. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/