Help me learn everything I need to know about visual processing (and improving it).

September 6, 2008 7:12 PM

Help me learn everything I need to know about visual processing (and improving it).

I would like to learn more about visual processing and how one can improve it. For example:

1. What region of the brain controls visual processing, and what activities/exercises have been shown to stimulate this region?
2. What activities have been found (or would be likely) to be helpful in improving visual procesing?
3. What if someone has deficits in this from birth as opposed to someone who has acquired visual processing deficits (for example, from a car accident). Would they present differently?
4. Are there any supplements that may be useful, either in improving visual processing or protecting this from further impairment?
5. What are some resources or links that would help me learn more about visual processing problems?
6. Is there anything in addition to simple practice that athletes do to improve their visual processing speed and accuracy (for example, a baseball player who needs to improve his reaction time and accuracy) when up at bat.
7. Anything else I need to know.

Thanks!

posted by mintchip to health & fitness (7 comments total)

In answer to #2, you might want to check out this software from Posit Science for visual processing.
posted by metahawk at 7:18 PM on September 6, 2008

The visual cortex and the frontal lobes are mainly what's involved in visual processing.
What activities have been shown to stimulate those regions? Looking at things does it. All sections of the brain are stimulated when they're used. But beyond that obvious answer, no, there isn't.

I think you may be laboring under a misconception that there's some sort of magical thing, an herb or a spice or a pill or some magical form of exercise or meditation, which will suddenly drastically improve the speed and efficiency with which that kind of thing operates. There isn't anything like that which I've ever heard of.

What will make it work better? Lots of practice. Everything in our brains improves with practice, but not very rapidly.

Would deficits from different causes present differently? hard to say; depends on what they are and how they happened.

Are there any supplements that may be useful? No. Not usually. If you are having cognition problems because of malnutrition, then eating a balanced diet will help, but if your diet is already adequate (and that's the case for nearly everyone in the industrialized world) then there isn't anything you can add which specifically improves brain function.

Is there anything other than simple practice that athletes do? No.

Anything else I need to know? When it comes to brain damage, there's no magical solution, and in many cases there's no solution at all. Modern treatment, including rehabilitation therapy, can help you learn to work around the consequences of brain damage, but it can't cure it. And that's the case no matter the cause of the brain damage.
posted by Class Goat at 7:28 PM on September 6, 2008

What kinds of problems are you having? Neglect and blindsight are interesting topics in vsual processing. I'd be doubtful of any supplements claiming to help.
posted by DarkForest at 7:38 PM on September 6, 2008

To understand how human vision works, you will probably need to get a PhD in neuroscience and then more... Vision is a huge subject in neuroscience research and the questions you are asking are the types of questions that people dedicate their whole careers to investigate.

Nonetheless, a first step is to understand the big picture as to how patterns of illumination falling on the retina get transformed into conscious recognition of objects. You should read chapter 12, Central Visual Pathways, in Purves' Neuroscience text. (It's hard to navigate, but search for the section headings and you can get the rest of the info.)

1. What region of the brain controls visual processing, and what activities/exercises have been shown to stimulate this region?

Read parts of the text above for more detailed info. There are four main locations of nervous system that are involved in visual processing: the eye/retina, optic nerve, parts of the thalamus, and the parietal lobe. This is misleading because the parietal lobe is known as the visual cortex but these are connected to a number of areas in the brain that do further downstream, high-level processing.

2. What activities have been found (or would be likely) to be helpful in improving visual procesing?

It's hard to say because there are fundamental, biophysical limits to how much you can improve the visual system. Unless you start talking about manipulating the fundamental developmental program encoded in your genome or developing neuroprosthetics, it's hard to say that you optimize the human visual system even more than what nature has given us to work with.

3. What if someone has deficits in this from birth as opposed to someone who has acquired visual processing deficits (for example, from a car accident). Would they present differently?

Yes, but I'm not an expert on this. You will have to talk to a neurologist, ophthalmologist, or neuro-ophthalmologist to get a better perspective on this.

4. Are there any supplements that may be useful, either in improving visual processing or protecting this from further impairment?

Active area of research.

5. What are some resources or links that would help me learn more about visual processing problems?

Read the latest papers in pubmed. For example: Molecular and cell-based approaches for neuroprotection in glaucoma.; or Long-term vision rescue by human neural progenitors in a rat model of photoreceptor degeneration. Take some neuroscience classes or join a neuroscience research group doing active research on the visual system.

6. Is there anything in addition to simple practice that athletes do to improve their visual processing speed and accuracy (for example, a baseball player who needs to improve his reaction time and accuracy) when up at bat.

Not an expert--talk to an ophthalmologist or neurologist.

7. Anything else I need to know.

...

See response to question #5.
posted by scalespace at 8:09 PM on September 6, 2008

I noticed an error in my post above: the relay stations in the thalamus project to the occipital lobe, not the parietal lobe.
posted by scalespace at 8:12 PM on September 6, 2008

A few book recommendations:

Visual Perception: Physiology, Psychology and Ecology

The Visual Brain in Action (Oxford Psychology Series)

Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See

Strange Brains and Genius: The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists and Madmen (threw this one in for fun; i've always enjoyed it just for the craziness of it all)
posted by colorproof at 6:07 AM on September 7, 2008

It's not really up to date, but I'm fond of classics : the art of seeing, by Aldous Huxley (for what it's worth).
posted by nicolin at 7:10 AM on September 7, 2008