Amit Manjunath Psychology Mrs.

McGinley Sight Unseen Questions

1. From reading this article, one should realize that the visual senses of a person are not just

governed by the hardware of the brain, but are also trained through experience. Therefore, if a person, like the subject of the article, were to gain his/her sense of sight after a certain age, he/she most likely will not be able to properly use their visual sense because they are passed the critical phase of their lives in which they were able to learn about visual aspects such as object, face, and depth differentiation. In addition, the article informs the reader about how the idea of sight restoration began as early as the 15th century B.C., in which needles were used to remove cataracts, and how it evolved into the technologically advanced procedure involved stem cells that it is today.
2. One new thing that I learned from this article was that stem cells have the ability to

replace scar tissue and repair a region of the body that has been damaged for many decades. I do not know much about stem cells to begin with, so I am not sure as to why such a heated debate exists regarding the topic, but if the cells have the ability to produce such life changing results, I am curious as to what might be so bad about them that many oppose the research of them. Another thing that I learned was that lacking one of the eyes can mess up a persons depth perception. I find this strange because a lack of depth perception would mean that a person with such a disorder would feel like they were walking in a world where all objects had different sizes, even if they did not.

3. Questions: a. If stem cells can rejuvenate the scar tissue around the eye, can they also be used in the visual cortex of the brain as a means of providing fresh cells for the eyes to teach through experience?
b. If the motion detection sense of Mike May stayed intact despite years of disuse,

what other senses of his relating to his visual perception are still intact?
4. I think this article is important in the study of psychology because for one, it deals largely

with the visual cortex of the brain. Located in the occipital lobe of the brain, this part deals with the processing of visual signals made by light waves. In the case of Mike May, this part of his brain was the least exercised due to his blindness. His case gave evidence to the fact that having functioning eyes is not enough to properly use them because experience in using them is also a necessity. Another way this article relates to the field of psychology is through the discussion of the fMRI (functional MRI). An fMRI not only captures images of the brain through the use of radio waves, but it also monitors the blood and oxygen flow in the brain. The fMRI scans of Mike Mays brain indicated that certain parts of his brain are inactive even if they were stimulated by external signals.