There appears to be a whole range of ways that the brain reacts to picturing something with one’s eyes closed. I listened to a recent program where a condition
was described that intrigued me. The term I heard was "afantesia" but that appears not to be the correct name of the condition. Essentially people who
have this condition see nothing in their brains when they close their eyes and try to picture even something as concrete as an apple. At the other end
of the spectrum there are people who have, again not the correct word apparently, "hyperfantesia". These individuals can be reading a fantasy novel with
dragons or unicorns and, when they close their eyes, they can see images of these elements as clearly as though they were a part of the story. It appears
that ten percent of folks are at one end and ten percent at the other end and the rest of us somewhere in the middle.
Clearly people who were born blind will probably be at the not-see end but what about people who have lost their vision later in life? What do they see
with their eyes closed? Are those folks on all ranges of the spectrum from nothing to everything?
People who are born blind dream! How do they dream? Is there a difference between the way people who have seen dream? Do they dream with the sight they
used to have? Does their ability to "see" lessen with time?
Essentially, we want to explore perception awake and asleep. The questions I have suggested are just the tip of the iceberg. I will tell all of you about
my dreams if you join us! So will others! I can tell you now that I see nothing with my eyes closed! Oddly en, I don’t smell anything or hear anything
either which, one would think, ought to be a possibility.
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