The Senses

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The Senses: Vision

Vision

BBC Radio 4 - The Senses, Vision

Neurologist Dr Guy Leschziner explores the surprisingly strange world of our senses.

What happens when communication glitches occur between our eyes and our brain? Discover how tricks of the mind can lead to a world filled with bewildering, even terrifying images.

Vision is a complex process involving light rays, special nerve cells and electrical signals sent to the brain, which processes the information and tells us what we’re seeing.   But even tiny disruptions to any part of this system can result in remarkable visual problems.

Neurologist, Dr Guy Leschziner, meets 25 year-old filmmaker Oli, who’s only recently discovered something alarming:  he’s missing half his vision in one eye -   probably caused by a stroke he had before he was born.  What’s more surprising, Oli can see moving objects in his ‘blind spot’, but not stationary ones. 

We hear from Dawn, whose eyes are working properly and yet she’s almost completely blind.  Her visual problems are caused by damage to a vital nerve connecting her eyeballs and her brain. 

Susan describes how her epilepsy is causing visual distortions that mean she can see through a person as if they were transparent

And we meet Nina who’s been robbed of her sight after two separate accidents. And yet, she sees colours and terrifying images of zombie faces. She discovers she has Charles Bonnet Syndrome – visual hallucinations caused by loss of sight.

Through the extraordinary experiences of these individuals, we learn how vision is not like a video camera, a straightforward process of turning light into a picture.  These malfunctions in our visual system illustrate that we see with our brains and nervous system, not just our eyes.  

Presenter: Dr Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams

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Neurologist Guy Leschziner explores the surprisingly strange world of our senses.

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