Can We "Learn" to See?

A new study reveals that the brain can be trained to consciously see stimuli that would normally be invisible. The study, highlighted in the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology's Journal of Vision, suggests that although we assume we can see everything in our field of vision, the brain actually picks and chooses the stimuli that come into our consciousness.

If we gain the ability to "train the brain" to consciously see, people with blindsight, whose primary visual cortex has been damaged through a stroke or trauma, may be helped. Blindsight patients can't consciously see, but their brains process their visual environment at least on some level .

Suggested Reading: Vision 101

_{Source: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). Can We "Learn to See?" Study Shows Perception of Invisible Stimuli Improves with Training?. Newswise, 21 Oct 2009.}