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Computer Game Reveals 'Space-Time' Neurons In the Eye

Posted by Unknown on from the eye-like-reflexes dept.

sciencehabit (1205606) writes news that the EyeWire project from MIT has yielded some exciting results. "You open the overstuffed kitchen cabinet and a drinking glass tumbles out. With a ninjalike reflex, you snatch it before it shatters on the floor, as if the movement of the object were being tracked before the information even reached your brain. According to one idea of how the circuitry of the eye processes visual data, that is literally what happens. Now, a deep anatomical study of a mouse retina — carried out by 120,000 members of the public — is bringing scientists a step closer to confirming the hypothesis." The paper (paywalled), and a gallery of screenshots of the game.

4 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Zoned? by RalfM · · Score: 4, Informative

    Possibly not the best example :-)

    http://www.snopes.com/photos/advertisements/longoria.asp

    --
    The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
    -Bertrand Russel
  2. Re:Is this all that surprising? by lgw · · Score: 3, Informative

    Doesn't seem that odd to me. You react to touching something hot before any signal reach the brain. That's almost the definition of a reflex vs reaction.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  3. Re:Is this all that surprising? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 3, Informative

    > However to say that you react before -any- info reaches the brain smacks of a physical impossibility

    Incorrect. You have outdated information.

    There have been studies shown that the heart is able to react pre-stimulus; THEN the brain reacts. The heart contains 40,000+ neurons is part of the reason.

    the amygdala makes instantaneous decisions about the threat level of incoming sensory information, and due to its extensive connections to the hypothalamus and other autonomic nervous system centers, is able to "hijack" the neural pathways activating the autonomic nervous system and emotional response before the higher brain centers receive the sensory information.

    (Emphasis added)

    Our left brain is apparently operating at 15kb / second while our right brain is apparently operating at 20million kb / second. We don't know how fast our heart brain is operating at but we do know that the electromagnetic field around our heart is 4000 times greater than the field of our brain.

    * http://www.heartmath.org/resea...
    * http://www.heartmath.org/free-...
    * http://www.livingtransformatio...

  4. Re:Is this all that surprising? by NitWit005 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Even just reading from that quote, the information did actually reach the brain first. It just didn't reach what the authors define as the "higher brain centers". You're not contradiction him. I'm not sure how the electromagnetic field strength of the heart was supposed to be relevant either.