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Secrets Of The Mind

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According to Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran, in his movie “Secrets of the Mind,” our vision system is divided into two parts, one with our eyes, and the other with our brain. He also says that there are two different pathways in which our brain uses to “see.” One of these pathways, he calls the evolutionary new pathway (the more sophisticated pathway) in which our eyes see, then the information is sent to the thalamus, and eventually entering the visual cortex of the brain. This pathway is the conscious part of seeing. The other pathway Dr. Ramachandran says is more prominent, as well as evolutionarily primitive. An iguana uses this system of seeing. In this second pathway, information enters through the eyes, and then is sent to the brain …show more content…

Dr. Ramachandran was able to treat James with what is known as “The Mirror Box.” This box works by having James place both hands inside the box. One side of the box is a mirror, giving James the illusion of having both hands, and sending a signal through James’s visual cortex to unclench his missing hand. The part of the movie that is most interesting to me is the part about John. John was in a car accident and after the accident suffered from Capgras Delusion. In Capgras Delusion patients believe that the people they know are imposters. This is because the brain received damage from trauma and is sending mixed signals. As visual input enters the brain through the eyes, Dr. Ramachandran believes that it is then divided into two different streams of processing. One pathway he labels the “How” pathway. In this pathway information is sent to the visual cortex, then relayed to the parietal lobes. The parietal lobes are the place where spatial information is processed for navigation. The other pathway Dr. Ramachandran labels at the “What” pathway. This pathway leads from the visual cortex to the temporal lobes. This pathway’s main function is concerned with recognizing what we are looking at, and determining meaning. In David, this pathway seems to be damaged. After David recognizes objects, he is unable to respond to them emotionally. The amygdala is

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