[video_player id=鈥滶sTgHOI6鈥砞Video: Blind man avoids obstacles
SOME blind people have the remarkable ability to navigate physical obstacles without consciously perceiving them (see video, above). It now looks like they have their (LGN) 鈥� part of the thalamus in the middle of the brain 鈥� to thank for this 鈥渂lindsight鈥�.
That鈥檚 according to a team at the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. They used macaques in which parts of the primary visual cortex had been destroyed.
The monkeys鈥� eye-focusing movements, coupled with scans of brain activity, revealed that they were 鈥渟eeing鈥� images shown in the 鈥渂lind鈥� part of their visual field, but only if their LGN was intact (Nature, ).
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