In the meantime, every second, the lights intensify, and even if we open our eyes at that moment, we see bursts of bright color almost everywhere in our field of vision. Again, within seconds, what we see disappears.
So how do these flashing lights in various colors and patterns that we cannot understand come out? According to science, of course, there is an answer to this question.
Scientists call this visual reaction “phosphene”.
Phosphenes come from inside our eyes, and just as fireflies can glow, the cells inside our eyes emit biophotons (low-frequency light) and faint biologically produced light particles. There are many biophotons in our eyes because the atoms in our body constantly produce and absorb tiny particles of light.
This process is only part of normal function, and our eyes cannot distinguish between photons from external light and low-frequency light emitted by our own atoms. In both cases, the optic nerves in our body transmit these light signals to the brain.
In fact, our eyes produce far more biophotons than we see as phosphene.
Hungarian neuroscientist Bokkon describes the bursts of light that occur in our eyes this way: “When you rub your eyes, this produces biophotons in many parts of the eyes.” and “But they are mostly absorbed locally.”
In summary, almost all of these light clusters are low-frequency lights that are both emitted and absorbed by atoms in the retina, where our eyes are responsible for detecting light.
According to the neuroscientist, phosphenes can also be formed from various other parts of the visual system, and various shapes and colors can occur depending on the source of this visual reaction.
The different colors of the light clusters we see are caused by the emission of photons of different wavelengths by different atoms and molecules. In addition, researchers have determined that phosphenes in the region of the brain responsible for the visual cortex create shapes unique to that region.
At this point, the brain is unable to distinguish whether artificial lights in the form of bright stars, zigzag patterns, swirls, curls, and spirals are real or not. Although this is an illusion, we believe that we actually see colors, lights and patterns.
In the 1950s, German researcher Max Knoll developed a scheme for classifying phosphene shapes and studied the clusters of light appearing in the eyes of more than 1,000 volunteers. 15 categories have been created, including star, triangle, point, spiral, amorphous drops.
Researchers often used electric probes and fancy magnetic machines to get these people to see phosphenes, but these colorful lights we see almost every day are not actually related to any electromagnetic stimulation. Rather, most phosphenes form spontaneously when the atoms in our eyes replace the biophones.
By applying pressure to our eyes, we can trigger these lights called phosphenes involuntarily, but we should be very careful about this.
When we rub our eyes, the cells in the retina are activated and we activate the cells that tend to receive real light, such as a lamp or the Sun. The retina consists of cells in the innermost layer of the eye and is the most important part of the eyeball. Here, the striking light turns into a message in the brain.
In addition, the light particles we see when we do this move belong to the pressure phosphene group, and according to Bokkon, a pressure on the eyes can cause the lights to spread too much, which creates intense visuals.
We also involuntarily trigger pressure phosphenes when we get a blow to the head, sneeze heavily, cough, or stand up suddenly.
Can those with congenital visual impairment also see these lights?
People who do not have the ability to see from birth cannot see phosphenes, but in cases of vision loss due to illness or injury, people often do not lose all of their visual functions. “Theoretically, all previously blind people can retain the ability to see phosphenes,” Bokkon states.
Scientists are looking for ways to activate phosphenes in blind people, potentially restoring their vision. If a cure is found for the blind to see these light clusters, there may be hope of seeing real images as well.
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