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DMT and Blindness

Migrated topic.
camakazi said:
it would be very difficult to tell if what the blind person was experiencing was actually visual because they'd have nothing to compare it to, no point of refenence.
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that has nothing to do with it. the geometric visions from psychedelics perceived at V1 have nothing to do with images projected on the fovea (optic nerve). completely independent
for instance, CEVs can be very elaborate, and aren't quite like everyday surroundings.

the path is from the raphe nuclei back to the visual cortex; that whole area is below and behind the optic radiation, respectively. if V1 is damaged, then yeah, you won't see s#!t
 
Thats not what I'm getting at benz.. I'm not debating wether or not they see the geometric structures as we do, I'm just saying it would be very hard for them to describe without drawing on previous visual input.
I couldn't describe a purple octopoid/plant like creature I seen when tripping if I hadn't seen the colour purple, an octopus or plant beforehand.
 
I think it is a bit unrealistic to expect a blind person to have 20/20 vision as we know it under the influence of DMT. Even if DMT totally takes one to another place, his brain may not know how to process signals normally once he gets there. A baby takes awhile to be able to see clearly based on what I have been told.

For example, let us say I have a machine like a transporter in Star Trek but I am paralyzed. The transporter can move me to India right now. So I am now in India but I still can't walk. Does that mean the transporter did not work because it did not solve my leg issues? No.

I kind of remember reading something about a guy getting sight for the 1st time and it took him a while to figure out what was going on. At first it was a bunch of blob things. He could not walk via sight or anything like that. But he was thrilled because it was SOMETHING different. As time went on, he developed the necessary skills and slowly began to see as we know it.

If a person blind for life can see anything he percieves to be dark/light differences or something which he even considers to be colours (even if it is something else), that would be quite remarkable, in my view.
 
corpus callosum said:
Benzyme.

You refer to 'V1' in your posts in this thread.May I ask, what does this mean/refer to?
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Argh, and your nick is corpus callosum! V1 refers to an anatomical region of the V(isual) cortex in the posterior part of the brain. There are other regions named V2, V3, V4 and V5. V1 is the shits when it comes to vision. For more information check visual cortex
 
Thanks Infundibulum!

If you dont know, then ask someone who does!

I guess Im stuck in the era of Brodmanns areas ,cortices, fissures and sulci.Fascinating stuff but presently this has very little clinical application but I can see neurophysiologists and research neuroscientists' bells being rung in a big way by this! Thankyou for increasing my knowledge base further.:d


(V1 has always meant the first division of the trigeminal nerve to me until today!!:idea: )
 
I've gotten to wondering ... what happens when people born blind smoke spice? Do they too have "closed-eye hallucinations?"

Hmmm ... do they see phosphenes in a normal state? I guess it depends on what type of blind they are.

But if anyone has data, anecdotal or otherwise, I'd love to hear it!
 
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