Slashdot Mirror


Can Living In Total Darkness For 5 Days "Reset" the Visual System?

the_newsbeagle writes: That's what one neuroscientist is aiming to find out. He wants to put patients with a type of amblyopia, the vision problem commonly called lazy eye, into the dark for 5 days. His hypothesis: When they emerge, their brains' visual cortices will be temporarily "plastic" and changeable, and may begin to process the visual signals from their bad eyes correctly. Before he could do this study, though, he had to do a test run to figure out logistics. So he himself lived in a pitch black room for 5 days. One finding: Eating ravioli in the dark is hard.

15 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Re: not even a lil LED ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes that is why blind people are crazy.

  2. Where are his grad students? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Funny

    >> Eating ravioli in the dark is hard.

    Isn't this what grad students were invented for?

  3. Not a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

  4. Re:not even a lil LED ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... And what can you do? ...

    Edit Slashdot stories.

  5. Re:This is called Kaya Kalpa in yoga by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That seems like a really bad idea for people who still need their visual cortex for vision. If you want to jack up the wiring in your brain, just abuse dangerous drugs. It'll save you a lot of time.

  6. Number 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    How can you tell if you are done wiping?

    1. Re:Number 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Taste each wad of paper before dropping it into the toilet. Duh!!!

    2. Re: Number 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Fold paper in half; if it sticks together, keeping wiping.

      +1. This one knows his shit.

  7. Ravioli tastes better by Overzeetop · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, but eating the grad students in the dark is really no easier, and the ravioli tends to taste better.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:Ravioli tastes better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I've eaten a grad student in the dark. It wasn't that hard. I knew anatomy and she appreciated the effort.

    2. Re:Ravioli tastes better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      It wasn't that hard.

      You're doing it wrong.

  8. Scotonauts by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sounds like scrotonauts lol

  9. Re: Hypothesis: Patch the good eye by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Fixes a decent percentage of the population, sure, but what about those for which the eyepatch fails?

    Get an eyepatch with a better elastic. There's no excuse for an eyepatch to fail.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  10. Re: This is called Kaya Kalpa in yoga by tehcyder · · Score: 3, Funny

    Tinfoil is *full* of tiny holes!

    I wondered why the Lizard Overlords' thought waves were still getting through.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  11. Re:This is called Kaya Kalpa in yoga by dingleberrie · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't know what you mean by "jack up the wiring" but mushrooms will probably get you there and they're not dangerous.

    And they grow in the dark!
    I'm sensing an opportunity for synergy here.