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Visual Perception (visual + perception)
Selected AbstractsThe Particularity of Visual PerceptionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, Issue 2 2000Matthew Soteriou First page of article [source] What's the Role of Spatial Awareness in Visual Perception of Objects?MIND & LANGUAGE, Issue 5 2007JOHN CAMPBELL The first is Lynn Robertson's: (a) spatial awareness is a cause of object perception. A natural counterpoint is: (b) spatial awareness is a cause of your ability to make accurate verbal reports about a perceived object. Zenon Pylyshyn has criticized both. I argue that nonetheless, the burden of the evidence supports both (a) and (b). Finally, I argue conscious visual perception of an object has a different causal role to both: (i) non-conscious perception of the object, and (ii) experience, e.g. hallucination, that may be subjectively indiscriminable from, but is not, perception of the object. [source] Visual Perception: A Clinical OrientationOPHTHALMIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL OPTICS, Issue 4 2010Graeme J. Kennedy No abstract is available for this article. [source] Neuro-Cognitive Mechanisms of Conscious and Unconscious Visual PerceptionPSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2009Article first published online: 11 SEP 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] Do prior knowledge, personality and visual perceptual ability predict student performance in microscopic pathology?MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 6 2010Laura Helle Medical Education 2010:44:621,629 Objectives, There has been long-standing controversy regarding aptitude testing and selection for medical education. Visual perception is considered particularly important for detecting signs of disease as part of diagnostic procedures in, for example, microscopic pathology, radiology and dermatology and as a component of perceptual motor skills in medical procedures such as surgery. In 1968 the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT) was introduced in dental education. The aim of the present pilot study was to explore possible predictors of performance in diagnostic classification based on microscopic observation in the context of an undergraduate pathology course. Methods, A pre- and post-test of diagnostic classification performance, test of visual perceptual skill (Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, 3rd edition [TVPS-3]) and a self-report instrument of personality (Big Five Personality Inventory) were administered. In addition, data on academic performance (performance in histology and cell biology, a compulsory course taken the previous year, in addition to performance on the microscopy examination and final examination) were collected. Results, The results indicated that one personality factor (Conscientiousness) and one element of visual perceptual ability (spatial relationship awareness) predicted performance on the pre-test. The only factor to predict performance on the post-test was performance on the pre-test. Similarly, the microscopy examination score was predicted by the pre-test score, in addition to the histology and cell biology grade. The course examination score was predicted by two personality factors (Conscientiousness and lack of Openness) and the histology and cell biology grade. Conclusions, Visual spatial ability may be related to performance in the initial phase of training in microscopic pathology. However, from a practical point of view, medical students are able to learn basic microscopic pathology using worked-out examples, independently of measures of personality or visual perceptual ability. This finding should reassure students about their abilities to improve with training independently of their scores on tests on basic abilities and personality. [source] Visual perception and measurements of texture and gloss of injection-molded plasticsPOLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 2 2009Sofie Ignell The effect of an imposed texture on the gloss of injection-molded polymeric surfaces was evaluated as well as the way in which these properties are visually perceived. Specimens having small differences in surface topography were produced using two mold cavities with slight differences in texture and three different polymers. The texture and gloss were characterized using laser profilometry, gloss measurements, and by means of psychometric evaluations. The measured surface topography parameters and gloss were determined mainly by the texture of the mold surface and the gloss also by the processing conditions. Variations in surface topography due to differences in the rheological properties of the polymer melts were, in most cases, too small to be reflected in the measurements. The visual assessments of the texture and the gloss of specimens from the same cavity were in fair agreement with the measurements, although the observers could discern differences between some specimens not revealed by the measurements. When the specimens molded in the two cavities differing significantly both in gloss and texture were compared, the agreement between the measured topography parameters and the perceived roughness was poorer. It is suggested that higher gloss of a textured surface enhances the perception of a higher roughness. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers [source] First experience with The IRIS retinal implant systemACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2009M VELIKAY-PAREL Purpose To report on the first 4 months experience of a patient with the active IRIS- Implant. Methods 4 weeks after implantation the training with the active implant started. Thresholds were measured at each training day. Light perception, light localisation, point to point discrimination and motion detection were measured with special test procedures. Visual function training was performed. Results Visual perception was achieved, when the stimuli were generated by the computer and with the camera mode. All tests were successful. Conclusion Successful stimulation and major improvements during the training demonstrates that with the Iris Implant System a visual perception can be achieved, which is relevant for daily life. [source] Plasticity of the visual system after early brain damageDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 10 2010ANDREA GUZZETTA The aim of this review is to discuss the existing evidence supporting different processes of visual brain plasticity after early damage, as opposed to damage that occurs during adulthood. There is initial evidence that some of the neuroplastic mechanisms adopted by the brain after early damage to the visual system are unavailable at a later stage. These are, for example, the ability to differentiate functional tissue within a larger dysplastic cortex during its formation, or to develop new thalamo-cortical connections able to bypass the lesion and reach their cortical destination in the occipital cortex. The young brain also uses the same mechanisms available at later stages of development but in a more efficient way. For example, in people with visual field defects of central origin, the anatomical expansion of the extrastriatal visual network is greater after an early lesion than after a later one, which results in more efficient mechanisms of visual exploration of the blind field. A similar mechanism is likely to support some of the differences found in people with blindsight, the phenomenon of unconscious visual perception in the blind field. In particular, compared with people with late lesions, those with early brain damage appear to have stronger subjective awareness of stimuli hitting the blind visual field, reported as a conscious feeling that something is present in the visual field. Expanding our knowledge of these mechanisms could help the development of early therapeutic interventions aimed at supporting and enhancing visual reorganization at a time of greatest potential brain plasticity. [source] The development of change blindness: children's attentional priorities whilst viewing naturalistic scenesDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2009S. Fletcher-Watson Change blindness describes the surprising difficulty of detecting large changes in visual scenes when changes occur during a visual disruption. In order to study the developmental course of this phenomenon, a modified version of the flicker paradigm, based on Rensink, O'Regan & Clark (1997), was given to three groups of children aged 6,12 years and to a group of adults. This paradigm tested the ability to detect single colour, presence/absence and location changes of both high and low semantic importance in a complex scene. Semantically important changes were detected more quickly and accurately than less semantically important changes, by all age groups, indicating that children had the same attentional priorities as adults. Older children achieved more efficient and accurate detection of changes than younger children and reached almost adult level at 10,12 years old. These improvements parallel age-related developments in attention and visual perception. [source] Peer Commmentaries on Jonas Langer's The descent of cognitive developmentDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2000Article first published online: 28 JUN 200 Robert W. Mitchell, The role of perception in cognitive development, p. 379 Sue T. Parker, Cascading possibilities through the ontogenetic window of opportunity, p. 381 Jacques Vauclair and Olivier Houde´, Coordination of actions, visual perception and inhibition in non-human and human primate development, p. 382 [source] A comparison of the host-searching efficiency of two larval parasitoids of Plutella xylostellaECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Xin-Geng Wang Summary 1. A host specialist parasitoid is thought to have greater efficiency in locating hosts or greater ability to overcome host defence than a generalist species. This leads to the prediction that a specialist should locate and parasitise more hosts than a generalist in a given arena. The work reported here tested these predictions by comparing the host-searching behaviour of Diadegma semiclausum (a specialist) and Cotesia plutellae (an oligophagous species), two parasitoids of larval Plutella xylostella. 2. Both parasitoids employed antennal search and ovipositor search when seeking hosts but D. semiclausum also seemed to use visual perception in the immediate vicinity of hosts. 3. Larvae of P. xylostella avoided detection by parasitoids by moving away from damaged plant parts after short feeding bouts. When they encountered parasitoids, the larvae wriggled vigorously as they retreated and often hung from silk threads after dropping from a plant. 4. These two parasitoids differed in their responses to host defences. Diadegma semiclausum displayed a wide-area search around feeding damage and waited near the silk thread for a suspended host to climb up to the leaf, then attacked it again. Cotesia plutellae displayed an area-restricted search and usually pursued the host down the silk thread onto the ground. 5. Diadegma semiclausum showed a relatively fixed behavioural pattern leading to oviposition but C. plutellae exhibited a more plastic behavioural pattern. 6. The time spent by the two parasitoids on different plants increased with increasing host density, but the time spent either on all plants or a single plant by D. semiclausum was longer than that of C. plutellae. Diadegma semiclausum visited individual plants more frequently than C. plutellae before it left the patch, and stung hosts at more than twice the rate of C. plutellae. 7. The results indicated that the host-location strategies employed by D. semiclausum were adapted better to the host's defensive behaviour, and thus it was more effective at detecting and parasitising the host than was C. plutellae. [source] A review of the acute subjective effects of MDMA/ecstasyADDICTION, Issue 7 2006Chelsea A. Baylen ABSTRACT Aim Although several relatively recent reviews have summarized the neuropsychiatric effects associated with chronic ecstasy use, there is no published comprehensive review of studies on the acute subjective effects (ASEs) of MDMA/ecstasy. Design The present study reviewed the prevalence, intensity and duration of ASEs collected from 24 studies that provided frequency data on the prevalence of self-reported ecstasy effects and/or provided data on the intensity of ecstasy effects. Findings Although hundreds of ASEs have been reported following MDMA consumption, we identified a subset of effects reported repeatedly by meaningful proportions and large numbers of participants across multiple investigations, most of which were either emotional (e.g. anxiety, depression, closeness, fear, euphoria, calmness) or somatic (e.g. nausea/vomiting, bruxism, muscle aches/headache, sweating, numbness, body temperature changes, fatigue, dizziness, dry mouth, increased energy). Only one sexual ASE (sexual arousal/increased sensual awareness), one cognitive ASE (confused thought), one sensory,perceptual ASE (visual effects/changes in visual perception), one sleep-related ASE (sleeplessness) and one appetite-related ASE (decreased appetite) were reported across five or more investigations. Three factors,number of hours between ingestion and assessment, dose level, and gender,have been associated with the acute subjective experience of MDMA/ecstasy., Conclusions This review provides useful information for clinicians and researchers who want to understand the desirable and undesirable ASEs that may motivate and restrain ecstasy use, for public health advocates who seek to reduce biomedical harms (e.g. fainting, dehydration, shortness of breath, bruxism) associated with recreational use of MDMA/ecstasy, and for educators who wish to design credible prevention messages that neither underestimate nor exaggerate users' experiences of this drug. [source] High-frequency gamma oscillations coexist with low-frequency gamma oscillations in the rat visual cortex in vitroEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 8 2010Olaleke O. Oke Abstract Synchronization of neuronal activity in the visual cortex at low (30,70 Hz) and high gamma band frequencies (> 70 Hz) has been associated with distinct visual processes, but mechanisms underlying high-frequency gamma oscillations remain unknown. In rat visual cortex slices, kainate and carbachol induce high-frequency gamma oscillations (fast-,; peak frequency , 80 Hz at 37°C) that can coexist with low-frequency gamma oscillations (slow-,; peak frequency , 50 Hz at 37°C) in the same column. Current-source density analysis showed that fast-, was associated with rhythmic current sink-source sequences in layer III and slow-, with rhythmic current sink-source sequences in layer V. Fast-, and slow-, were not phase-locked. Slow-, power fluctuations were unrelated to fast-, power fluctuations, but were modulated by the phase of theta (3,8 Hz) oscillations generated in the deep layers. Fast-, was spatially less coherent than slow-,. Fast-, and slow-, were dependent on ,-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptors, ,-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors and gap-junctions, their frequencies were reduced by thiopental and were weakly dependent on cycle amplitude. Fast-, and slow-, power were differentially modulated by thiopental and adenosine A1 receptor blockade, and their frequencies were differentially modulated by N -methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptors, GluK1 subunit-containing receptors and persistent sodium currents. Our data indicate that fast-, and slow-, both depend on and are paced by recurrent inhibition, but have distinct pharmacological modulation profiles. The independent co-existence of fast-, and slow-, allows parallel processing of distinct aspects of vision and visual perception. The visual cortex slice provides a novel in vitro model to study cortical high-frequency gamma oscillations. [source] VISION AS REVISION: RANKE AND THE BEGINNING OF MODERN HISTORYHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 4 2007J. D. BRAW ABSTRACT It is widely agreed that a new conception of history was developed in the early nineteenth century: the past came to be seen in a new light, as did the way of studying the past. This article discusses the nature of this collective revision, focusing on one of its first and most important manifestations: Ranke's 1824 Geschichten der romanischen und germanischen Völker. It argues that, in Ranke's case, the driving force of the revision was religious, and that, subsequently, an understanding of the nature of Ranke's religious attitude is vital to any interpretation of his historical revision. Being aesthetic-experiential rather than conceptual or "positive," this religious element is reflected throughout Ranke's enterprise, in source criticism and in historical representation no less than in the conception of cause and effect in the historical process. These three levels or aspects of the historical enterprise correspond to the experience of the past, and are connected by the essence of the experience: visual perception. The highly individual character of the enterprise, its foundation in sentiments and experiences of little persuasive force that only with difficulty can be brought into language at all, explains the paradoxical nature of the Rankean heritage. On the one hand, Ranke had a great and lasting impact; on the other hand, his approach was never re-utilized as a whole, only in its constituent parts,which, when not in the relationship Ranke had envisioned, took on a new and different character. This also suggests the difference between Ranke's revision and a new paradigm: whereas the latter is an exemplary solution providing binding regulations, the former is unrepeatable. [source] Alcohol intoxication effects on visual perception: An fMRI studyHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 1 2004Vince D. Calhoun Abstract We examined the effects of two doses of alcohol (EtOH) on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation during a visual perception task. The Motor-Free Visual Perception Test,Revised (MVPT-R) provides measures of overall visual perceptual processing ability. It incorporates different cognitive elements including visual discrimination, spatial relationships, and mental rotation. We used the MVPT-R to study brain activation patterns in healthy controls (1) sober, and (2) at two doses of alcohol intoxication with event-related fMRI. The fMRI data were analyzed using a general linear model approach based upon a model of the time course and a hemodynamic response estimate. Additionally, a correlation analysis was performed to examine dose-dependent amplitude changes. With regard to alcohol-free task-related brain activation, we replicate our previous finding in which SPM group analysis revealed robust activation in visual and visual association areas, frontal eye field (FEF)/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and the supplemental motor area (SMA). Consistent with a previous study of EtOH and visual stimulation, EtOH resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in activation amplitude over much of the visual perception network and in a decrease in the maximum contrast-to-noise ratio (in the lingual gyrus). Despite only modest behavior changes (in the expected direction), significant dose-dependent activation increases were observed in insula, DLPFC, and precentral regions, whereas dose-dependent activation decreases were observed in anterior and posterior cingulate, precuneus, and middle frontal areas. Some areas (FEF/DLPFC/SMA) became more diffusely activated (i.e., increased in spatial extent) at the higher dose. Alcohol, thus, appears to have both global and local effects upon the neural correlates of the MVPT-R task, some of which are dose dependent. Hum. Brain Mapping 21:15,26, 2004. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Neuropsychological functioning in buprenorphine maintained patients versus abstinent heroin abusers on naltrexone hydrochloride therapyHUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL, Issue 7 2009Lambros Messinis Abstract Rationale Methadone and buprenorphine are among the most widely employed pharmacological treatments currently available for opioid addiction. Cognitive effects of buprenorphine in abstinent heroin abusers are nevertheless far from being understood. Methods Neuropsychological performance of 18 buprenorphine-maintained patients (BMP) was evaluated relative to that of 32 currently abstinent heroin abusers on naltrexone hydrochloride therapy (FHAN), and 34 non-drug dependent controls. The three groups were demographically balanced. Clinical groups reported histories of similar patterns of drug use and had increased periods of abstinence from any illicit substance use including heroin. Results The BMP group performed poorer than controls on the RAVLT (encoding and delayed recall of verbal information), CTT (conceptual flexibility, executive functions) and the RBANS figure copy (visual perception) and delayed recall of visual information. There were no significant differences in any of the cognitive measures between the BMP and FHAN groups or between the FHAN group and controls. Furthermore, the non-differing percentage of abnormal cases between the two patient groups led us to infer that treatment with either BPM or FHAN is not accompanied by qualitative differences in the cognitive profiles of these patients. Conclusion Overall, results suggest that treatment with naltrexone in abstinent heroin abusers may result in less impairment of cognitive functions compared to treatment with buprenorphine. These findings are relevant for improved prognosis and treatment strategies in opioid dependence. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Influence of experience of treadmill exercise on visual perception while on a treadmillJAPANESE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2010YOSHIKO YABE Abstract A firm linkage exists between a motor command and its expected feedback. When we are exposed to a conflict between expected and actual feedback in a new context, we form a new linkage between action and perception, which may be further strengthened by prolonged experience. In this paper, we attempt to identify whether the linkage between treadmill locomotion and visual processing in relation to optic flow is strengthened in experienced users of treadmills. Yabe and Taga (2008) showed that ambiguous apparent motions are perceived to be moving downward more frequently when the stimuli are shown in front of the observers' feet on a treadmill when walking compared with when standing. Here, their experimental data was reanalyzed in relation to the experience of using the treadmill. The result revealed that habitual treadmill exercise reduced the difference in perceived direction of visual motion between the walking and standing conditions. It should be noted that the treadmill users showed perceptual "downward" bias for both the standing and walking conditions. The results suggest that treadmill users tend to activate the habitual linkage between treadmill locomotion and perception of optic ground flow even when they are just standing on a treadmill. [source] Sexual differences and effect of photoperiod on melatonin receptor in avian brainMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 1 2001Nicoletta Aste Abstract Several data suggest that melatonin may influence avian reproduction by acting at the level of the hypothalamic-hypophisial-gonadal axis, and/or on neural circuits controlling reproductive behaviours. The action of melatonin is exerted through specific receptors whose distribution and pharmacological properties have been extensively investigated. This review will focus on the distribution, sexual dimorphism, and dependence upon the photoperiod of melatonin binding sites in avian species with a special emphasis on Japanese quail. Melatonin receptors are widely distributed in avian brain. They are mostly present in the visual pathways of all the investigated species and in the song controlling nuclei of oscine birds. Sexual dimorphism of melatonin binding sites (higher density in males than in females) was detected in some telencephalic nuclei of songbirds, in the visual pathways, and in the preoptic area of quail. The last region plays a key role in the activation of male quail copulatory behaviour and it hosts a large population of gonadotropin-releasing hormone-containing neurons. Sexual dimorphism of melatonin-binding sites in the above-mentioned regions suggests a differential role for this hormone in the modulation of visual perception, gonadotropin production, and seasonally activated behaviours in male and female quail. Further studies are necessary to understand interrelationships among photic cues, gonadal steroids, density, and sexually dimorphic distribution of melatonin receptors. Microsc. Res. Tech. 55:37,47, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] What's the Role of Spatial Awareness in Visual Perception of Objects?MIND & LANGUAGE, Issue 5 2007JOHN CAMPBELL The first is Lynn Robertson's: (a) spatial awareness is a cause of object perception. A natural counterpoint is: (b) spatial awareness is a cause of your ability to make accurate verbal reports about a perceived object. Zenon Pylyshyn has criticized both. I argue that nonetheless, the burden of the evidence supports both (a) and (b). Finally, I argue conscious visual perception of an object has a different causal role to both: (i) non-conscious perception of the object, and (ii) experience, e.g. hallucination, that may be subjectively indiscriminable from, but is not, perception of the object. [source] Electrocortical and electrodermal responses covary as a function of emotional arousal: A single-trial analysisPSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Andreas Keil Abstract Electrophysiological studies of human visual perception typically involve averaging across trials distributed over time during an experimental session. Using an oscillatory presentation, in which affective or neutral pictures were presented for 6 s, flickering on and off at a rate of 10 Hz, the present study examined single trials of steady-state visual evoked potentials. Moving window averaging and subsequent Fourier analysis at the stimulation frequency yielded spectral amplitude measures of electrocortical activity. Cronbach's alpha reached values >.79, across electrodes. Single-trial electrocortical activation was significantly related to the size of the skin conductance response recorded during affective picture viewing. These results suggest that individual trials of steady-state potentials may yield reliable indices of electrocortical activity in visual cortex and that amplitude modulation of these indices varies with emotional engagement. [source] SEEING CAUSINGS AND HEARING GESTURESTHE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 236 2009S. Butterfill Can humans see causal interactions? Evidence on the visual perception of causal interactions, from Michotte to contemporary work, is best interpreted as showing that we can see some causal interactions in the same sense as that in which we can hear speech. Causal perception, like speech perception, is a form of categorical perception. [source] Assessment of sensory substitution prosthesis potentialities in minimalist conditions of learningAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Colline Poirier Pattern recognition with a prosthesis substituting vision by audition was investigated. During 15 1-hour sessions, nine blindfolded sighted subjects were trained to recognise 2D patterns by trial and error. In addition to a global assessment, recognition of pattern element nature (vertical bars, horizontal bars,), element size and element spatial arrangement were independently assessed for each pattern. Influence of experimental parameters (complexity level of patterns, exploration number of a pattern) on recognition was studied. Performances improved over sessions. As a rule, patterns element nature was less well recognised than element size and spatial arrangement. Experimental parameters influenced pattern recognition performance. Results are discussed in relation with auditory and visual perception as well as in the perspective to implement a learning protocol for future users of prosthesis. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Quality of life and memory performance in patients with temporal lobe epilepsyACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2000A. R. Giovagnoli Objective, To explore the contribution of memory performance to quality of life (QOL) in patients with left or right temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Subjects and methods, Sixty-five patients with left or right TLE compiled the QOL in Epilepsy-89 Inventory (QOLIE-89), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Hopelessness Scale (BDI) for self-evaluation of QOL and mood. Memory was assessed by tests of verbal and non-verbal memory and the Questionnaire of Memory Efficiency (QME). A neuropsychological battery was also administered to assess general intelligence, attention, visual perception, language, set shifting, word fluency and conceptual-motor tracking. Results, On factor analysis, the neuropsychological battery and mood scales consisted of six factors (Memory, Mental Speed, Mood, Praxis, Sorting and Perception), while the QOLIE-89 consisted of five factors (Psychosocial Satisfaction, Epilepsy-Related Effects, Role, Physical Performance, Cognition). On regression analysis, overall QOLIE-89 score was predicted by the factor Mood and QME score. The QOLIE-89 factor Cognition was predicted by QME score and the Memory, Mental Speed, Perception and Praxis factors of the neuropsychological battery. Conclusion, In TLE patients self-reported memory, as assessed by QME, is an important predictor of QOL, and also correlates with performance on memory tests. This suggests that memory improvement by specific training may help to improve QOL in these patients. [source] First experience with The IRIS retinal implant systemACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2009M VELIKAY-PAREL Purpose To report on the first 4 months experience of a patient with the active IRIS- Implant. Methods 4 weeks after implantation the training with the active implant started. Thresholds were measured at each training day. Light perception, light localisation, point to point discrimination and motion detection were measured with special test procedures. Visual function training was performed. Results Visual perception was achieved, when the stimuli were generated by the computer and with the camera mode. All tests were successful. Conclusion Successful stimulation and major improvements during the training demonstrates that with the Iris Implant System a visual perception can be achieved, which is relevant for daily life. [source] Early postnatal growth variables are related to morphologic and functional ophthalmologic outcome in children born pretermACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 5 2010M Hök-Wikstrand Abstract Aim:, To evaluate the association between gestational age (GA), early and late postnatal growth variables and ophthalmologic outcome in ex-preterm children. Methods:, Children (GA < 32 weeks, n = 66), previously examined regarding insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) serum concentrations in relation to ROP, underwent ophthalmologic examination at median 5.6 years. Weight, height, and head circumference (HC) were measured and expressed as SDS. Growth variables were analysed in relation to ophthalmologic outcome. Results:, At follow-up 74% had some ophthalmologic abnormality and 17% had visual impairment. Poor visual acuity was correlated with low GA (rs = 0.29, p = 0.019), low weight at 32 weeks (rs = 0.30, p = 0.013), and low weight (rs = 0.37, p = 0.0025), height (rs = 0.41, p = 0.0007) and HC (rs = 0.55, p < 0.0001) at follow-up. Hyperopic children (25%) had low neonatal IGF-1 (p = 0.0096) and HC at follow-up (p = 0.022). Poor visual perception was correlated with low early weight (rs = 0.38, p = 0.0036) and HC at follow-up (rs = 0.39, p = 0.0024). Head circumference at follow-up was correlated with GA (rs = 0.40, p = 0.0012), neonatal IGF-1 (rs = 0.37, p = 0.0031), and early weight (rs = 0.27, p = 0.035). Conclusions:, In very preterm children, early and later postnatal growth is closely related to visual acuity and perception at follow-up. In addition, IGF-1 concentrations and early growth are correlated with head circumference and refraction at follow-up. [source] On Ethics and Documentary: A Real and Actual TruthCOMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 4 2006Garnet C. Butchart This article brings recent psychoanalytic theory to bear on contemporary moral opinion about ethical practice in documentary film and video. A critical distinction is made between ethics and morals, and Alain Badiou's (1993/2001) philosophical conception of an ethic of truths is used to challenge the restrictions put upon documentary. It is argued that visual perception remains the truth of any documentary, and three modes are proposed according to which an ethic of disclosing this truth may be practiced with a view to overcome the obstacles of morality-based ethical systems. [source] FEELING IS BELIEVING, OR LANDSCAPE AS A WAY OF BEING IN THE WORLDGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2007Edmunds Valdem, rs Bunk ABSTRACT. This article is work-in-progress, an orientation of thought towards possibilities for individual human beings to diminish the distance between outer and inner landscapes imposed by cultural norms and happenstances such as exile. The dominance of visual landscapes and visual perceptions is seen as a pivotal problem, to be solved by the engagement of all the senses in landscape discourse and formation. All the senses are engaged in earliest childhood, as they have been in ,primitive' societies. While returning to either a state of childhood or primitivism is an impossible dream, it is possible to edge closer to human nature by engaging and honing all the senses, especially the ,earth-bound senses' of feel, smell and taste. Cultivating those senses and developing discourse about them, and incorporating them into landscape formation and enjoyment, is much more difficult than having a discourse about sight and hearing, for which there is a rich and well-developed symbolic language and which can be shared through various types of media. The way towards a deeper discourse about the earth-bound senses, and the way out of the tyranny of the visual, is to be found in stories, as several thinkers suggest. The story told is autobiographical and literary , a mode of geographic writing that I developed in a 2004 book (Bunk,e 2004a), in which the complex dilemmas of home and road were explored. This article shows how in the early 1970s I defined the individual's landscape as ,a unity in one's surroundings perceived through all the senses', with imagination as the key human faculty. And I tell the story of how through complex circumstances, a visually and emotionally repugnant landscape became emotionally and intellectually attractive, with a scent, not a picture or image causing the initial attraction. The external and internal landscapes are thus unified, resulting in a sense of timelessness and placelessness of deep existential significance for the person. [source] The Effects of Lighting on Consumers' Emotions and Behavioral Intentions in a Retail Environment: A Cross-Cultural ComparisonJOURNAL OF INTERIOR DESIGN, Issue 1 2007Nam-Kyu Park Ph.D. ABSTRACT As an important component of a retail store's atmospherics, lighting can affect the emotional responses that influence consumer shopping behavior. The purpose of this study is to examine, through cross-cultural comparison, the effect of the color quality of light in a retail environment on consumers' emotional states, behavioral intentions, and perceptions. The experimental research followed a 2 times 2 × 2 factorial design with repeated measures to identify the impact of culture group, color rendering index, and color temperature. The results of this study indicate that consumers are aroused and pleased by certain lighting effects and that cultural differences influence perceptions as well as the behavioral intentions of "approach-avoid" in a retail environment. Practical implications of this study could include application of store lighting techniques that enhance visual perceptions of consumers, induce emotional states of arousal and pleasure, and appeal to consumers from different cultures. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||