Blind man detects emotion

[Ivan Seeking]

...The man, identified only as 'patient X', has suffered two strokes which damaged the brain areas that process visual signals, leaving him completely blind.

But his eyes and optic nerves are intact and brain scans show that he appears to somehow use a part of the brain not usually used for sight to process visual signals linked to some emotions. ...published in journal Nature Neuroscience... [continued]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1263470.htm

[Drayakir]

I read about it in a Russian Sci-Fi magazine, and disregarded it as baloney. I guess I was wrong.

[Ivan Seeking]

It seems to be a credible report... I hope... :yuck:

[Moonbear]

If it's published in Nature Neuroscience, it's credible. That's a top tier journal.

[chroot]

It sounds reasonable that the neurons that process body language and facial expression are different than those that produce direct imagery made up of lines and shapes and colors.

- Warren

[tribdog]

is envy really green?
I'll bet love is orange

[russ_watters]

It sounds reasonable that the neurons that process body language and facial expression are different than those that produce direct imagery made up of lines and shapes and colors.

- Warren This is similar to another thread about consciousness and humans: people aren't going to like it, but this suggests to me that a lot of what is normally attributed to human consciousness is, in fact, just the way our brains are wired. It shouldn't be surprising (I used the example of "highway hypnosis"), but people don't like the idea that most of what we do does not require conscious thought.

This has broad philosophical/spiritual implications.

[chroot]

Russ,

I think it's actually a common belief among cognitive scientists that the human brain actually strives to automate as much as possible. When you're learning to drive, the task requires continuous conscious control, which is tiring and uses up a lot of energy. As you learn to drive, the brain learns to automates more and more of the task, thus making more efficient use of resources. Your brain doesn't like to waste expensive conscious thought on tasks that can be easily automated.

- Warren