On the bright side of blindsight. Considerations from new observations of awareness in a blindsight patient.
Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) January 8, 2025 Beatrice De Gelder, Nicholas Humphrey, Alan J Pegna 9 citations
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.