ABSTRACT
Of all the senses, vision, in the view of many people, is the most remarkable. Think for a minute of the processing that is required as you read this page. The lines and angles of print reflect light into your eyes. The light excites cells in the retina, which send nerve impulses deep into the brain. From here, the ‘neural messages’ undergo several further stages of processing. There are separate cortical regions to deal with colour and movement, and additional regions to coordinate reading, object recognition and probably facial recognition too. Yet if you close your eyes for a moment, turn round a few times, 94then open them again, your view of the world is, to all intents and purposes, instantaneous and effortless!
