I love it when co-incidences come together. Yesterday while dealing with my morning E-Mail I an received a e-mail from Scientific American Mind with a leading article on “A Caregivers Survival Guide”. The issue looked good so I purchased it. A quick peruse of the journal revealed an interesting piece on Illusions. I didn’t have time to read it as I had an early (annual) appointment with my Ophthalmologist. The good news was my eyesight is near perfect (apart from the fact I need glasses – made from the bottoms of two beer bottles) and my peripheral visions is good. I can still spot a Kangaroo (burra) at 200m behind a tree at dusk.
I returned home to read the article and I would recommend it to everyone as it offers a clear and simple insight into how our brains process and interpret visual sensory information.
The following short video is my attempt to illustrate this illusion.
Now consider how a person with Dementia might interpret the world. We see the same as you but how that information is processed and interpreted by our brains may well be different than you. Often it may only be a matter of time. For example, I often take longer to identify objects in diffuse light. Good bright and even light or near darkness its easy, as the cognitive possesses needed to interpret the scene are weighted differently.
This “process” illustrated above may also explain why sometimes floor mats appear as holes in the floor.
I have overcome some of these visual sensory challenges at home by simply replacing some of the old energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs with near equivalent LED bulbs that provide instantaneous and more uniform lighting. Not cheap, but cheaper than one fall (and less painful).
Ref:
Scientific American Mind, November/December 2016 p18-19
“The Case of the Oversized Planet”
By Stephen L. Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde | SA Mind November 2016 Issue
To read more:
Observations and Challenges:
Post 1: Sensory Challenge – Touch Post 2: Sensory Challenge – Sound
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