Conscious vision in blindness: A new perceptual phenomenon implemented on the "wrong" side of the brain.
PsyCh journal December 1, 2024 Yan Bao, Bin Zhou, Xinchi Yu et al. 2 citations
A patient blind in part of the visual field due to damage to the visual cortex reports conscious vision for moving, but not stationary, stimuli in the blind area. This completion effect is perceptual, not conceptual, and likely relies on spared representations in the striate cortex. fMRI shows brain activation only for moving stimuli, but on the same side of the brain as the stimulus rather than the opposite side, indicating a shift to the wrong hemisphere. This shift, explained by an imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory interactions between the striate cortices after injury, reveals neuroplasticity and offers new insights into visual system function and consciousness.