Monday 8 May 2017

In-lightened

Ever since I can remember, I've experienced this phenomenon that just seems to happen out of the blue.

My eyes are closed -at any time of the day- and suddenly I start to see yellow or white lights. Either a donut shape that starts out big and becomes smaller and smaller, until it fades away or dots all over, more often than not, in motion. Sometimes if I rub my eyes I can get these visions up and running too. I have also experienced more than once that after looking at something in the sunlight and then closing my eyes, I see shapes in lights and shadows of what I was just looking at. Like and after-image.

What the phosphene?

Apparently, this light is coming from inside our eyes. In the same way that fireflies and deep-sea creatures can glow, cells within your eyes emit biophotons, or biologically produced light particles.
Phosphenes are like visual noise our retinas make, they can also be activated by stimulating our retinas with pressure. Even without pressure it is a completely normal biological function, determined by the way our eyes and brain communicate with each other, agreeing on what kind of light it is we are seeing, outer or inner.

Please read these articles to understand a little bit more in depth, otherwise sit back and enjoy the show. I know I do. 

All italics are quoted from these.

References:
http://scienceline.org/2014/12/why-do-we-see-colors-with-our-eyes-closed/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cheryl-g-murphy/why-do-i-see-patterns-when-i-close-my-eyes_b_7597438.html





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