blindsight

n. the capacity of some individuals with damage to the striate cortex (primary visual cortex or area V1) to detect and even localize visual stimuli presented to the blind portion of the visual field. Discrimination of movement, flicker, wavelength, and orientation may also be present. However, these visual capacities are not accompanied by conscious awareness. The causes of blindsight are the subject of some debate: Because the neural pathway from the lateral geniculate nucleus to the striate cortex is nonfunctional in blindsighted people, it is thought that these capacities are either based on the visual collicular pathway (see colliculus; superior colliculus) or represent residual vision using surviving striate cortex. See also deaf hearing; numbsense.

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Psychology term of the day

January 19th 2025

imageless thought

thinking that occurs without the aid of images or sensory content. The Würzburg school upheld the existence of imageless thought on the basis of introspective reports, such as experimental participants’ stated ability to name a piece of fruit without picturing it. Edward Bradford Titchener and others in the structural school opposed this view (see structuralism). See Bewusstseinslage.