Why Do We See Patterns When Our Eyes Are Closed?

[BigMacnFries]

When I close my eyes I see random patterns of yellow whitish light. Does anyone know why this happens. I am guesing it could be random patterns of firing by rods and cones but it also could be activity in other areas of the visual pathway. Also does anyone know what level of the visual system correlates with our perceptions? For example if you cut the pathway from the thalamus to the primary visual cortex and stimulated the hell out of the retina you problably wouldn't see a lot. What level needs to be stimulated to see stuff?

 

[JamesU]

Never Heard of this

 

[jim mcnamara]

There are a lot of things that cause this - from floaters to light flashes. Most are not a problem. A few are.

Try reading here:
http://www.eyesite.ca/english/public-information/eye-conditions/pdfs/Floaters.pdf

 

[GOD__AM]

Eyelids are pretty thin and even with them closed some light will get through. Placing a flashlight against your hand you can observe the light coming through, mostly in the fingers.

 

[Burnsys]

i heard of people with brain damage, that could react to things they saw but wheren't aware they saw it... for example they were told: when you see a box in the screen press the button, when the box appeared they presed the button, but they didn't know there was a box in the screen...

 

[LURCH]

The Appolo astronauts had this same experience. Have you checked to see if there is an unusual amount of cosmic radiation passing through your area?

Alternatively, have you ever tried listening to your own heartbeat (or feeling it with your finger), to see if the flashes tend to coincide with your pulse? You may just be someone who has a blood vessel very close to, or even pressing up against, your optic nerve.

 

[BigMacnFries]

It is only a tiny, tiny amount of fluctuation, try closing your eyes, after the after image of your moniter disapperars you will problably notice that things are not totally black (even if you are in a pitch black room). I notice small random patterns that are only a fraction brighter than the blackness around them, it is nothing dramatic.

 

[Burnsys]

i know what you are talking about. it's like when you have no signal in your tv. but a lot more darker...

Anyway, one time my presure droped and i almos past out, in the worst moment all my sight become just like the tv with no signal, exactly like that...

 

[Blahness]

Yep, I experience that phenomenon.

Looks like black lightning behind my eyelids.

Any explanation, besides the informative URL?

 

[Simetra7]

Eyelids are pretty thin and even with them closed some light will get through. Placing a flashlight against your hand you can observe the light coming through, mostly in the fingers.

I think there is more to this than just light filtering through the eyelids. When I close my eyes tightly and press firmly on my eyelids I see a kalaidoscope of bright colours which light up and move around continuously. I too would be interested to know what causes this.

 

[somasimple]

Hi,

These lights are called phosphene
http://www.answers.com/topic/phosphene

 

[Blahness]

^Thank you somasimple. ^_^

 

[jammieg]

Weird, I don't see light splotches but sometimes before going to sleep in the dark I see lots of little multicolored geometric patterns dancing around.

 

[Mk]

It is only a tiny, tiny amount of fluctuation, try closing your eyes, after the after image of your moniter disapperars you will problably notice that things are not totally black (even if you are in a pitch black room). I notice small random patterns that are only a fraction brighter than the blackness around them, it is nothing dramatic.

So was the phosphene what you see?

I might be seeing the same things that you see, for me, I percieve it as kind of greenish, very very dark, but sometimes there's a little... strobe thingy too.

If I'm in a dark room, ESPECIALLY if I'm really tired and sleepy, I see little things on the walls and ceiling. Hallucinations? The little things look damn near exactly like the snow on your television when there's no channel there. I know I hallucinate them creeping around, but they only stick to the walls. I'll see if I see them tonight. (in Guam its only 9:30 PM).

 

[Hurkyl]

I bet the creeping is due to your eyes trying to follow them. I would expect them to actually be located at a fixed spot in your field of vision, so when your eyes try to focus on them, they appear to have moved someplace else. Try focusing on something to keep your eyes stationary, and see if they still creep.

 

[Mk]

I bet the creeping is due to your eyes trying to follow them. I would expect them to actually be located at a fixed spot in your field of vision, so when your eyes try to focus on them, they appear to have moved someplace else. Try focusing on something to keep your eyes stationary, and see if they still creep.

Yes, you are right, that's exactly why.

 

[cotarded]

You might find this link interesting. Supposedly they can mathmatically predict pressure phosphene patterns and such based on how random firing is inhibited in the visual cortex. But the source will speak better.

http://www.postgazette.com/healthscience/19990802lsd1.asp <-- good overview typically simplified news bit.

http://www.pitt.edu/~phase/ <-- mathmatician in question's page.

lates.

 

[inachu]

Hey I am new here and googling helped me find this page.


I never fully researched this but I suffer the same ill effects as you.
Yes I can agree the rods of my eyes are randomly firing off but!

To any skeptic who want to try and emulate this to see what we see do the following.

Place the lower portion of your palm of each hand over both eyes.

Now close your eyes.
The room does not need to be dark at all and any lighting condition can exist.

Now place them on your eye and verying degree of pressure on the eye until all outside light is blocked has occurred. Now with varying pressure with less or more pressure you will start seeing lights. I did this in my childhood and these lights would be yellow or red or purple or black shadoes that fade in and out among the lights. The visual effects reminds me of the 1960's special effects of putting food coloring in a glass pan that sits in an overhead projector.

Ok so the above is self induced to provide immediate results but I have had other symptom that I also shared with my sister and that is the following.

Look outside at the clouds either outside or from a window and keep looking and do not move your eyes about. As your eyes remain still with minimal blinking a cloud tunnel either moving towards or away from is starting to form and sometimes it appears to move fast and other times slow. Again I suspect these are the rods of my eyes doing something and I know they are not directly related to any halucinations as I have had these since I was small like 5 years old. I never could reproduce the effect or let it happen or work just staring at a blank wall in a room.