On the bright side of blindsight. Considerations from new observations of awareness in a blindsight patient.

Summary

A patient with bilateral damage to the striate cortex, who would be expected to be blind, could detect colored objects, especially red ones, and reported full awareness of the color despite a slow and effortful process. This ability cannot be explained by traditional type 1 or type 2 blindsight, raising questions about the boundaries between objective and subjective blindness and the nature of visual experience. The findings suggest blindsight may play a role in understanding how higher cortical functions are involved in emotions and feelings, highlighting the need for further exploration of visual features contributing to affective blindsight.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Blindsight refers to the ability to make accurate visual discriminations without conscious awareness of the stimuli. In this study, we present new evidence from naturalistic observations of a patient with bilateral damage to the striate cortex, who surprisingly demonstrated the ability to detect colored objects, particularly red ones. Despite the slow and effortful process, the patient reported full awareness of the color aspect of the stimuli. These observations cannot be explained by traditional concepts of type 1 or type 2 blindsight, raising intriguing questions about the boundaries between objective and subjective blindness, as well as the nature of visual experience and epistemic agency. Moreover, these findings underscore the significant role that blindsight could play in future research, especially in understanding how higher cortical functions are involved in emotions and feelings. This highlights the necessity for further exploration to better understand the visual features that contribute to the phenomenon of affective blindsight.