Children whose eyes are misaligned and point outward are at significantly increased risk of developing mental illness by early adulthood, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic study published this month in Pediatrics (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/122/5/1033), the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

By manipulating the appearance of a chronically achy hand, researchers have found they could increase or decrease the pain and swelling in patients moving their symptomatic limbs. The findings in Current Biology reveal a profound top-down effect of body image on body tissues, according to the researchers.

Neuroscientists at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center have discovered a direct link between eye motions and the perception of illusory motion that solves a 200-year-old debate. 

Stephen Macknik, PhD, director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology; Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD, director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience; Xoana G. Troncoso, PhD; and Jorge Otero-Millan; conducted a study based on the Enigma painting, a visual illusion in which rotational motion is seen within a stationary image. The artwork has been at the center of a debate over whether the brain or the eye is behind the perception of illusory motion. 

Great athletes know that it takes more than physical ability to do well - it takes brain power in the form of speed and efficiency in decision-making as well.   Two researchers from the School of Optometry, Professor Jocelyn Faubert and postdoctoral student David Tinjust, of the Université de Montréal say they have discovered how to train the brain of athletes to improve their overall athletic performance.

Does your office lighting make you feel weary and dreary?  The cure may be at hand!  Recently, Professor Derk-Jan Dijk of the Surrey Sleep Centre has led a team testing out new bulbs with a colour temperature of 17,000 Kelvin and found that they increase alertness as compared with more traditional types of lighting. But this sounds rather alarming.  17,000 Kelvin would be the temperature of a star close to B3 in the main sequence, somewhere between Alkaid and Regulus in properties.  The luminance of these stars is largely in the ultravio

Eyes are the interface between the outside world and our brain's perceptions.   Being the instrument of sight, and therefore a lot of our information, we rely on the functions of our eyes quite obsessively, and why wouldn't we?  They make it possible to observe our beautiful world and really appreciate different species and the unique characteristics they hold - like their eyes. 

Evolution of the Eye

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have used gene therapy to restore useful vision to mice with degeneration of the light-sensing retinal rods and cones, a common cause of human blindness. Their report, appearing in the Oct. 14 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes the effects of broadly expressing a light-sensitive protein in other neuronal cells found throughout the retina.

'Blindsight' is a phenomenon in which patients with damage in the primary visual cortex of the brain can tell where an object is although they claim they cannot see it.

A research team led by Prof. Tadashi Isa and Dr. Masatoshi Yoshida of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan, provides compelling evidence that blindsight occurs because visual information is conveyed bypassing the primary visual cortex.

We learned from the prior blog that the Sun is much too bright for normal viewing with our sensitive eyes. A white “color” results when we observe objects that are both extremely bright and bright at all or most visible wavelengths. Please allow me to elaborate a little more on this issue.

A 115-year-old woman who had remained mentally alert throughout her life had no evidence of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study in the August issue of Neurobiology of Aging, questioning the assumption that Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia will inevitably develop, if people live long enough.

Prof. dr. Gert Holstege of University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands and colleagues had a unique chance to test the mental functioning of one of the world's oldest humans, and then to compare their findings with the condition of the subject's brain after death.

The patient was a Dutch woman who, at age 82, made arrangements to donate her body to science after death. At age 111, she contacted the researchers to ask whether her body would still be useful for research or teaching purposes. They assured her that, contrary to what she thought, they were especially interested because of her age: "She was very enthusiastic about her being important for science," Dr. Gert Holstege and colleagues write.