Understanding the Sensory Systems of Vision and Taste

      Light waves pass through the cornea and enter our pupils, then the lens bends that light and focuses it on the retina. The retina holds millions of photoreceptors called cones and rods. Rods help us see in dim lighting and cones allow us to see color and fine details. This light is converted into electrical signals and sent through the optic nerve to be processed in the brain. The visual cortex is where these signals are processed into an image. In the article “The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of this dress”,  Adam Rogers talks about that infamous “black and blue” “gold and white” dress that caused such an uproar and how it is that we saw it differently. He stated that our brains determine what color light is bouncing off the object we are looking at and subtracts it from the “real” color of that object. We try to discount the chromatic bias of the daylight axis causing us to see black and blue if we discount the gold side of the axis and vice versa. Basically, our perceptions of the picture’s background can be different, so we perceive the other colors differently based on what colors are removed.  It was found that the dress is indeed blue and black after further experimenting and photoshop and Bevil Conway, a neuroscientist who studies color and vision at Wellesley College, suggested that night owls would see it this way because they typically discount gold rather than blue.

   Additionally, I listened to an audiocast “The Science of Touching and Feeling” where David Linden discusses the importance of touch and how much we still don’t know about it. Evidence shows that touch deprivation can affect our brain, GI tract, and immune system and is often irreversible after the age of two. Sensations outside of ourselves are important because we’re hardwired to suppress the stimuli we create on a day-to-day basis. This claim of irreversibility may be true but also has the potential of being changed because of neuroplasticity. 

    Neuroplasticity is an important topic we must understand because it is the brain’s ability to form and reorganize neural connections in response to changes in behavior and environment. These neural adaptations are important for learning, development, and forming memories.