PSY-402 Topic 4 DQ 2

PSY-402 Topic 4 DQ 2 Describe blind sight and unilateral neglect and explain the contribution of these phenomena to researchers’ understanding of consciousness and attention. Class, Unilateral spatial neglect occurs when the attention network of the brain is only affected on one side which can cause the affected person to only be able to describe or produce a picture depicting only their perception of that particular side of themselves, the room etc. (Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun, 2014). When this phenomenon occurs it is almost as if the entire other side of what they see AND remember, does not exist anymore (Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun, 2014). Cases such as these have allowed researchers to understand better brain damage and the effect on the brain and has them further understand the attention mechanisms of the brain (Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun, 2014). Blind sight occurs when a person who has damage on their visual cortex, but are still able to respond when stimuli are presented on their blind side. This told researchers that vision can occur outside of conscious awareness further encouraging the presence of a second visual pathway that does not rely on the primary system (Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun, 2014). Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, (2014). Cognitive neuroscience: The biology of the mind (Fourth edition.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.