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Neural brain noise may affect our vision

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 June 2009, 12:17 CDT

U.S. scientists have determined neural noise may cause a person to miss important changes in the environment.

The research was conducted by Vanderbilt University postdoctoral researcher Sam Ling and Professor Randolph Blake.

We found that when the brain actively ignores the presence of an object in the environment, it does so in a way that weakens and degrades residual information about that object, Ling said. We found the brain's neural representation of an object outside your window of awareness is not only weaker, but also 'noisier.' It's as if the brain turns down the contrast on your mental television and also adds static noise into the image.

The researchers explored what happens to an ignored stimulus during binocular rivalry, which occurs when both eyes view radically different images. They found the brain temporarily rejects, or suppresses, one of those images in favor of the other, with the image commanding visual awareness switching between the two over time. That fluctuation in visual awareness, the researchers said, enables cognitive neuroscientists to study the neural correlates of awareness and consciousness.

The study is to appear in a future issue of the journal Psychological Science.

Source: United Press International

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