Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Is “non-visual vision” a thing? (self.Blind)
submitted by Feisty-Owl4339
My mom has lost a lot of vision a few weeks ago, perhaps almost all of her vision, due to giant cell arteritis. She describes it as generally only barely being able to see whether a room is light or dark, but that’s about it. Almost zero detail.
As an experiment, I used an app on my phone to display a sentence in large, contrasty type on my phone. I moved the phone around in her field of vision and asked her to see if she could read it.
We found that there was a spot in her field of vision where she actuary could read the sentence and got it 100% right. But she said that she didn’t feel like she could see the phone and felt like she was only guessing. So I tried multiple different sentences. She got them all right, but still felt as if she could barely even see the phone at all and was just guessing at what it said.
I was curious if anyone knew what might be going on here. Is there a type of vision where your brain might be able to interpret visual information without it feeling like you’re getting a visual picture? Thanks so much.
As an experiment, I used an app on my phone to display a sentence in large, contrasty type on my phone. I moved the phone around in her field of vision and asked her to see if she could read it.
We found that there was a spot in her field of vision where she actuary could read the sentence and got it 100% right. But she said that she didn’t feel like she could see the phone and felt like she was only guessing. So I tried multiple different sentences. She got them all right, but still felt as if she could barely even see the phone at all and was just guessing at what it said.
I was curious if anyone knew what might be going on here. Is there a type of vision where your brain might be able to interpret visual information without it feeling like you’re getting a visual picture? Thanks so much.
KillerLag 6 points 1y ago
It sounds like she might be using eccentric viewing techniques. She may have an area in her peripheral vision that she can see a little bit still. Because she isn't using the macula (the central part of the eye responsible for detailed vision), she may not notice it under normal circumstances.
https://lowvision.preventblindness.org/2005/09/07/eccentric-viewing/
It may be possible that she can guess from the shape of the letters (for example, E is very box-like, compared to a Q or S).
Another possibility, although fairly unlikely, is blindsight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight
That usually involved damage to the brain (usually the visual cortex) so the brain doesn't consciously recognize it can see. People might not be able to consciously see the object, but they can still reach out for it. I've never heard of someone being able to read, though.
https://lowvision.preventblindness.org/2005/09/07/eccentric-viewing/
It may be possible that she can guess from the shape of the letters (for example, E is very box-like, compared to a Q or S).
Another possibility, although fairly unlikely, is blindsight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight
That usually involved damage to the brain (usually the visual cortex) so the brain doesn't consciously recognize it can see. People might not be able to consciously see the object, but they can still reach out for it. I've never heard of someone being able to read, though.
viciousSnowFlake 2 points 1y ago
Oh neat. I've apparently been doing eccentric viewing for a while now. Nice to finally know the name...
I feel like you could use smart glasses to make this easier once you've identified the PRL.
I feel like you could use smart glasses to make this easier once you've identified the PRL.
KillerLag 2 points 1y ago
Some people have found prism glasses useful. However, not everyone adapts to those well.
viciousSnowFlake 2 points 1y ago
I feel like you could have the glasses track your central vision as your eye moves along the text you're reading and then the glasses takes that text and shifts it to the PRL.
Is that essentially what the prism glasses do?
Edit:
Kinda like these I guess
https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2335516
Is that essentially what the prism glasses do?
Edit:
Kinda like these I guess
https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2335516
Shadowwynd 3 points 1y ago
Brains are weird on a good day. We like to think in terms of technology - the brain is a computer, eyes are cameras, the optic nerve is a data cable, etc. - however reality is a lot more fuzzy. I have seen clients who can no usable vision, but they can unconsciously dodge a ball thrown to them or walk across a room while unintentionally avoiding obstacles - so yes, depending on where the damage happens, some vision signals may be coming through and are going to parts of the brain. It sounds similar to some types of cortical vision impairment.
[deleted] 2 points 1y ago
[deleted]
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