BLIND MAN CAN SEE WITH INNER VISION

We assume that seeing involves information coming into our eyes and brain from the outside. It may be, however, that the brain can see even without the eyes. Scientists already realize that the brain has to "know" what it is looking at in order to "see" it, but research with a blind man has puzzled scientists. Esref Armagan, a congenitally blind artist, can paint pictures of objects placed in front of him, including the effects of perspective on color and shading, according to a report published in New Scientist.

John Kennedy, a psychologist at the University of Toronto who specializes in studying the artwork of the blind, used magnetic brain scans to study Armagan. One scan confirmed that light shined upon Armagan's eyes had no impact upon events within the brain - there was no brain response to the light, indicative of blindness. When Armagan would paint a portrait of something placed before him, however, the visual parts of his brain would evidence the same kind of activity that would be associated among normally sighted persons, with looking and seeing.

Armagan reports that his use of perspective, and its effect on color and shading, comes from what he has learned from the comments provided by people who have seen his work. Yet Armagan's brain scans detect no activity in the part of the brain associated with recalling verbal material. It may require posing in front of Armagan a scene with very unusual, or unexpected coloring and shading effects to determine if he is applying learning or if maybe, in fact, the brain has more ways of seeing than with the eyes.