
What role do various brain areas play in vision? – Part 2
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Click to enlarge! |
In the picture the six brain areas described in detail in Part 1 are divided into overlapping functional groups: autonomic, sensory, motor and cognitive. In an another previous post I mentioned that vision imbalances are not a cause but rather a symptom of deficits in the function and performance between two major nerve systems in the body: the autonomic and motor nerve systems. Now, by taking in the additional information that eye movement is administered by the basal ganglia and thalamus in close collaboration with brain stem, cerrebelum and cortex we get a first gimps of how massive the influence of incorrect visual development is. An initial imbalance in the basal ganglia itself can affect balance, posture, cognitive, emotional and addictive behavior. Furthermore does eye misalignment disrupt the received sensory input and its processing affecting sensory experience, concentration, memory and motor skills further down the line. Over time a negative brain wide spill over effect will eat away at overall performance. In her book ‘Fixing my gaze’ Susan Barry states that according to her own personal experience stereo vision isn’t just another way of seeing but that it is truly another way of thinking! Vision cannot be isolated from cognition or any other brain function so correcting a visual imbalance through appropriate training has far reaching positive effects on the brain as a whole.
– The harder you fight it, the worse it gets: Binocular imbalances clearly put a lot of strain on the brain and body and the harder you fight it by not accepting reality and not correctly treating with Vision Therapy the more damage will be done. It’s wise to accept the situation (if you are not misinformed by MDs and if people let you) and work on your vision in order to close this energy wasting ‘brain leak’. After you can get back to other things you want to do in life. Ignoring this problem doesn’t last. A person divided against himself, can not stand.
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If this is true for a normal brain, I wonder how much of my energy I’m spending over there… |
– Sensibility to sound: Some strabismics compensate very strongly for visual impairments towards audio processing. I’m a good listener and I can quite easily pick up languages auditively with some extra visual learning. Sadly some people have reorganized their senses in such an extreme way they are oversensitive to sound and suffer because of it. An example can be found here. (thalamus, sensory group)
These are just a few illustrative experiences of how strabismus or other visual trauma can affect the brain and why treating with Vision Therapy as soon as possible is imperative in order to limit and repair the damage. Vision, even though often taken for granted, is a learned behavior and can be improved through training according to the principle of neuroplasticity!
Finally, I want to end with a remarkable excerpt from ‘The Brain that changes itself’ by Norman Doidge pointing out once more the profound implications that vision problems and whether correctly treated can have on a persons brain and consequently his overall development, performance and health status.
Thanks again! Good stuff!!!