The Fundamental Role of Vision in - Cognition -Behavior - Social Organization
Jim Sheedy, OD, PhD Pacific University ItInternati ona l Congress o f Behavioral Optometry ItInternati ona l Congress o f Behavioral Optometry Eyes and Brain Introspection on Consciousness We caabaan be aware o f these differences in our consciousness
• Awareness –No words –Vision based • Thinking –WdWords –Speech/hearing based Consciousness
• Primary consciousness – State of being mentally aware of things in the world • Higher order consciousness – The ability to be aware of being aware Right brain/Left brain Gerald Edelman, MD, PhD The Human Brain Splblit brain researc h
• Roger Wolcott Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga – shared the 1981 Noble Prize in Phyygysiology and Medicine with David Hubel and Torstein Wiesel • Animal studies • Human patients with epilepsy Split brain
Hearing and speech Vision perception
Left side of body Rig ht side of bod y Advanced cognitive skills use neural frameworks established for vision and hearing/speech Higgbuupooher level skills built upon vision and hearing/speech Right Brain Left Brain • Vision based • Verbally based • Parallel processing • Serial processing • Holistic • Words •Understanding • Thinking • Feelings •Logic • Intuition • Deduction • Beliefs • “Silent” – no words • Survival Development of Eyes and Vision • Universe age: – 13.73 ± 0.12 billion years • Earth age – 4.55 billion years • 4 billion - simple cells • 3 billion - photosynthesis, • 2 billion - complex cells • 1 billion - multicellular life, • 600 million - simple animals Pre-Cambrian • 570 million -arthropod s Cambrian • 550 million - complex animals • 500 million - fish and proto-amphibians, • 475 million - land plants, • 400 million - insects and seeds, • 360 million - amphibians, • 300 million - reptiles, Life on earth • 200 million - mammals, • 150 million - bir ds, (in years) • 130 million - flowers, • 65 million - dinosaurs died out • 6 million – divergence from ape line • 100,000 – homo sapiens The Cambrian explosion • 570-530 million years ago • Prior to this most organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organized into colonies. • All basic body plans developed here – heads, tails, and appendages • Evolution of all current animals has come from this era. •Rapidfd appearance of most major groups of complex animals • Firs t appearance of viiision Vision in the Cam bibrian Expl osi on
• Rapid development of eyes • Large survival benefits from vision • Vision drives survival and evolution • Strong evolutionary pressure to develop vision • Behavior driven by vision • Vision drives neural processing
In the Blink of an Eye, Andrew Parker Genesis of vision? David Plachetzki and Todd Oakley
University of California at Santa Barbara
Opsin genes (pictured in blue) offer the first evidence of sight in animals.
The hydras have opsin proteins all over their bodies and are reactive to light, but have no eyes.
Source: National Science Foundation web-site Genesis of vision?
An eye cup
Receptive field – OFF ON communication with muscle movement Genesis of vision?
PdProposed evolutionary development of eye
Nilsson, Dan-Erik: Department of Zoology, Lund University in Sweden. Vision provided…
•a “map” of the external environment • a sense of “self” – survival • a sense of “group” – protection and survival –reprodtiduction and surviilval Gravity detection
• Perfect partner with Vision – OiOrien ta tion in wor ld • For the most pp,art, all vertebrates and invertebrates contain some type of organ( s) that all ows them to maintain equilibrium with respect to gravity and movement Statocyst • Balance organ
Likelyyy occurred early in evolution
http://moteprime.org/article.php?id=7 Development of Ears and Hearing Evolution of hearing • Much less is known • Probably early in evolution, but not as early as eyes – Possibly as early as 260 million years ago • Lateral line in fish • Reptiles sensed sound with jaw bones • Jaw bones transformed in mammals – Transitional mammal “Yanoconodon allini” lived 125 million years ago Hearing perception •Major advance was speech • Speech partners with hearing • Speech is unique to humans Spppeech development
• Many questions remain: • 500,000 years ago – Throat and ear bones of Stone Age ancestors indicate some speech, but archaic. • 100,000 to 40,000 years ago – transition to facial and neck traits needed for modern speech in H. sapiens. • 40,000 years ago – eight hearing-related genes show signs of having systematically evolved (John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin–Madison) • Some alterations on these genes occurred as recently as 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Early Human Development (years ago)
• 6 million • 12,000 –11,000 – divergence of apes and – beginning plant selection huuaacestosoman ancestors from a aadagcutuend agriculture common ancestor • 8,000 • 2.5 million – first cities – first stone tools •5,000 • 150,000 – 30,000 – first Civilizations (e.g. – Neanderthal man Egyptian), wheel invented, • 100,000 years writing invented – fffirst appearance of Homo • 3,500 Sapiens (us) – first alphabetic writing • 70,000 – 50,000 • 3,500 to 2,500 – first burials – Old Testament is written • 60,000 years • 3,000 – first boats – first New World Civilizations • 60,000-30,000 years (e.g. Inca, Aztec) – first art and religion Development of Human Perception and Mind • We emergg(ged from a vision based world (right brain) – “self’ – “group” – survival • Our visual mind played (and plays) the major role in defining our perception of world and relationships • Speech-based perception (left brain) is an overlay on the visual perception Development of Human Perception and Mind
Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing
Group thoughts “Group” What is ego? • Cogito ergo sum – Rene Descartes (1596-1650) • 2 components to Ego – Sense of “self” • Vision based – The thinking self • Hearing/speech based • Uniquely human What is “ggproup”? • Sense of “group” – Vision based – Cooperation for survival – Cooperation for success – Carl Jung’s “collective unconscious” •Grouppg thoughts – Speech/hearing based – Governance and cooperation – Knowledge base – Foundations for towns to civilizations Western Civilization
• the left brain emerges in group governance and direction Thkhe Greeks (750 BCE – 350 BCE)
• Written language - 750 BCE – Oldest known literary writings • Iliad and the Odyssey – 700 BCE • Formally developed the left brain – Conscious inquiry into life and nature – Rules of reasoning and logic – Introduced reason and thought into human guidance Socrates (470 B.C. - 399 B.C.)
• Athenian philosopher • Method of inquiry – “Socratic method” – CtidContinued questiitioning – Not taking a point of view • Great teacher • No writings • Known through most famous pupil –Plato – Difficul t to didiistingui sh thhieir ideas • Chose to drink hemlock instead of being banished Plato (427 BC -347 BC) • Knowledge gained throug h the senses always remains confused and impure • True knowledge is gained through contemplation by the soul • Soul alone can have knowledge of the forms – World is an imperfect copy • Idealist and rationalist Allegory of the Cave and the Divided Line (Plato) • 2 worlds – Sensible (Visible) world that surrounds us • World of changgye and uncertainty • Illusions and beliefs • We can only have opinions in this world – Intelligible world – (Speech) • Unchanging products of human reason • Contains eternal “forms” (Visual cognition?) •Ideas • Reason and intelligence • World of reality • We can have knowledge in this world Allegory of the Cave and the Divided Line (Plato) • The 2 worlds each have a lower and upper region – Sensible (Visible) world that surrounds us •Lower region – Illusion •Upper region - Belief – Intelligible world (Speech) •Lower region – Reason •Upper region - Intelligence Plato’s 2 worlds
Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing
Group thoughts “Group”
Int elli g ible SiblSensible world world Plato’s 2 worlds
Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing Reason Illusion
Group thoughts “Group”
Int elli g ible SiblSensible world world Plato’s 2 worlds
Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing Reason Illusion Intelligence Belief Group thoughts “Group”
Int elli g ible SiblSensible world world The Sensory Mind
•Similar to Plato’s analysis The Sensory Mind
Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing
Group thoughts “Group” The Sensory Mind
Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self” Reason Feelings Hearing & LogicSpeaking Seeing Beliefs Deduction Group thoughts “Group” The Sensory Mind
Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self” Reason Feelings Hearing & Creativity IntelligenceLogicSpeaking Seeing Beliefs Deduction Understanding Group thoughts “Group” Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) •Large unconsciousness driven by sexual and other aggressive drives • Goal of therapy is to make the unconscious conscious • Id, ego, superego The Visual, or “unconscious” side of our mind
http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/images/iceburg.jpg Carl Jung (1875-1961) • Psyche divided into 3 parts –Ego –Personal unconscious Speech (L) Vision (R)
– Collective Ego “Self” unconscious thoughts Hearing & • He missed Speaking Seeing Group “group thoughts” thoughts “Group” Myers–Briggs test ()(1962)
• Isabel Briggs Myy(gers (daughter) I – E • Katharine Briggs (mother) N – S • Paper and pencil T – F test based on P - J Jung typologies Myers–Briggs test ()(1962)
• Isabel Briggs Myy(gers (daughter) I – E • Katharine Briggs (mother) N – S • Paper and pencil T – F test based on P - J Jung typologies Not from Jung Jung personalllity typology
• Attitude scale –Introversion – ego oriented towards the personal unconsciousness –Extitroversion –ego oriitdented toward s the collective unconsciousness Speech (L) Vision (R)
Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing
Group thoughts “Group” Speech (L) Vision (R)
I Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing
Group thoughts “Group”
E Jung personalllity typology
• Judging scale –Thin king • Preference for deciding via objective impersonal logic –Feeling • Preference for deciding via subjective and emotional responses Speech (L) Vision (R)
I Ego thoughts “Self”
Hearing & Speaking Seeing
Group thoughts “Group”
E Speech (L) Vision (R)
I Ego thoughts “Self” Reason Feelings Hearing & LogicSpeaking Seeing Beliefs Deduction Group thoughts “Group”
E Speech (L) Vision (R)
I Ego thoughts “Self” Reason Feelings Hearing & Logic Seeing TSpeaking F Beliefs Deduction Group thoughts “Group”
E Jung personalllity typology
• Perceiving scale –Sensing • Preference for obtaining information throug h t he se nses as facts a nd deta ils –INtuition • Preference for obtaining information as relationships, patterns, and possibilities Speech (L) Vision (R)
I Ego thoughts “Self” Reason Feelings Hearing & Logic Seeing TSpeaking F Beliefs Deduction Group thoughts “Group”
E Speech (L) Vision (R)
I Ego thoughts “Self” Reason Feelings Hearing & Creativity IntelligenceLogic Seeing TSpeaking F Beliefs Deduction Understanding Group thoughts “Group”
E Speech (L) Vision (R)
I Ego N thoughts “Self” N Reason S S Feelings Hearing & Creativity IntelligenceLogic Seeing TSpeaking F Beliefs Deduction Understanding Group thoughts “Group”
E The Four Circles of Skeffington*
Centering Identification •Where is it? •What is it?
C I Vision •The Emergent V
Speech Auditory •What do I know Anti-gravity A S/A abtbout it? •Where am I? •What can I tell •Where are my you about it? body parts one relative to another? *From Paul Alan Harris The Four Circles of Skeffington*
s Identification
Centering nn •Where is it? •What is it?
C nnectio I oo Vision Vision Speech •The Emergent (Right brain) V other c (Left brain) dd
Speech Auditory •What do I know Anti-gravity A losal an S/A abtbout it? •Where am I? Cal •What can I tell •Where are my you about it? body parts one relative to another? *From Paul Alan Harris The Visual, or “unconscious” side of our mind
http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/images/iceburg.jpg The Fundamental Role of Vision in - Cognition -Behavior - Social Organization
Jim Sheedy, OD, PhD Pacific University ItInternati ona l Congress o f Behavioral Optometry