How much can you see with non-functioning visual cortex? A clinically blind man, with lesions on both sides of his visual cortex, was able to flawlessly navigate an obstacle course, a paper to be published tomorrow in Current Biology reports. The patient, called only TN in the paper, is a former doctor, who had suffered two strokes that damaged both sides of his striate cortex, the brain region dedicated to processing vision. The findings reinforce previous observations that other routes in the brain besides the visual cortex can process visual information, the study's authors say. "I don't think there's ever been a bilateral blindsight patient that's been studied in any depth whatsoever, that's why it's interesting," linkurl:Robert Kentridge,;http://www.dur.ac.uk/psychology/staff/?id=589 from the University of Durham, who was not involved in the study, told The Scientist. TN has a condition known as blindsight. He is blind in every sense of the word:...
The Scientist
Interested in reading more?
Become a Member of
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!