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Vision, more than any other sense, dominates our mental life. Our conscious visual experience of the world is so rich and detailed that we can hardly distinguish it from the real thing. But as Goodale and Milner make clear in their prize-winning book, Sight Unseen, our visual experience of the world is not all there is to vision. Some of the most important things that vision does for us never reach our consciousness at all. In this updated and extended new edition, Goodale and Milner explore one of the most extraordinary neurological cases of recent years--one that profoundly changed scientific views on the visual brain. It is the story of Dee Fletcher--a young woman who became blind to shape and form as a result of brain damage. Dee was left unable to recognize objects or even tell one simple geometric shape from another. As events unfolded, however, Goodale and Milner found that Dee wasn't in fact blind -- she just didn't know that she could see. They showed, for example, that Dee could reach out and grasp objects with amazing dexterity, despite being unable to perceive their shape, size, or orientation. Taking us on a journey into the unconscious brain, the two scientists who made this incredible discovery tell the amazing story of their work, and the surprising conclusion they were forced to reach. Written to be accessible to students and popular science readers, this book is a fascinating illustration of the power of the 'unconscious' mind.

The vast increase in Alzheimer disease (AD) worldwide has grave implications for individuals, family support systems and the health-care systems that will attempt to cope with the disease. Early markers of the disease are essential for efficient selection of clinical trial participants for drug development and for timely treatment once an intervention becomes available. There is avid interest in noninvasive, inexpensive markers that have the potential to identify prodromal AD. This Review considers sensory impairments that have the potential to serve as early indicators of AD, with a focus on olfaction, hearing and vision. Current evidence regarding the potential markers of AD in each modality is examined, with a particular emphasis on olfaction and current findings that olfactory function is associated with prodromal AD. Research suggests that olfactory impairment is associated with other markers that signal the emergence of prodromal AD. Auditory impairment is associated with dementia in epidemiological studies and visual system deficits have been reported in AD; however, the emergence of these deficits in prodromal AD is unclear. Further research is necessary to address the relative sensitivity and specificity of olfactory, auditory and visual measures for the detection of prodromal AD.

Ginny's eyes play tricks on her, making her see everything double, but when she goes to vision screening at school and discovers that not everyone sees this way, she learns that her double vision can be cured.

Lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) are dietary carotenoids derived from dark green leafy vegetables, orange and yellow fruits that form the macular pigment of the human eyes. It was hypothesized that they protect against visual disorders and cognition diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), age-related cataract (ARC), cognition diseases, ischemic/hypoxia induced retinopathy, light damage of the retina, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal detachment, uveitis and diabetic retinopathy. The mechanism by which they are involved in the prevention of eye diseases may be due their physical blue light filtration properties and local antioxidant activity. In addition to their protective roles against light-induced oxidative damage, there are increasing evidences that L and Z may also improve normal ocular function by enhancing contrast sensitivity and by reducing glare disability. Surveys about L and Z supplementation have indicated that moderate intakes of L and Z are associated with decreased AMD risk and less visual impairment. Furthermore, this review discusses the appropriate consumption quantities, the consumption safety of L, side effects and future research directions.

Long-duration spaceflight induces changes to the brain and cerebrospinal fluid compartments and visual acuity problems known as spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS). The clinical relevance of these changes and whether they equally affect crews of different space agencies remain unknown. We used MRI to analyze the alterations occurring in the perivascular spaces (PVS) in NASA and European Space Agency astronauts and Roscosmos cosmonauts after a 6-mo spaceflight on the International Space Station (ISS). We found increased volume of basal ganglia PVS and white matter PVS (WM-PVS) after spaceflight, which was more prominent in the NASA crew than the Roscosmos crew. Moreover, both crews demonstrated a similar degree of lateral ventricle enlargement and decreased subarachnoid space at the vertex, which was correlated with WM-PVS enlargement. As all crews experienced the same environment aboard the ISS, the differences in WM-PVS enlargement may have been due to, among other factors, differences in the use of countermeasures and high-resistive exercise regimes, which can influence brain fluid redistribution. Moreover, NASA astronauts who developed SANS had greater pre- and postflight WM-PVS volumes than those unaffected. These results provide evidence for a potential link between WM-PVS fluid and SANS.

Through literature, media, and cinema across the ages, the authors focus attention on how the masses worldwide who are sighted view, and treat, the blind and legally blind. Coping with Vision Loss: Understanding the Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Effects also includes non-fiction written about and by the blind that gives great insight into their condition. The text explains what the visually impaired and blind can do to stay strong and live their lives to the fullest, as well as what family members and friends can do to help when needed, or to back off when one wants to be as independent as possible. Technological advances to assist the blind and legally blind are reviewed, as are websites for a host of organizations created to assist people with vision loss.

More than half of patients with multiple sclerosis have progressive disease characterised by accumulating disability. The absence of treatments for progressive multiple sclerosis represents a major unmet clinical need. On the basis of evidence that mesenchymal stem cells have a beneficial effect in acute and chronic animal models of multiple sclerosis, we aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of these cells as a potential neuroprotective treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis involving the visual pathways (expanded disability status score 5·5–6·5) were recruited from the East Anglia and north London regions of the UK. Participants received intravenous infusion of autologous bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in this open-label study. Our primary objective was to assess feasibility and safety; we compared adverse events from up to 20 months before treatment until up to 10 months after the infusion. As a secondary objective, we chose efficacy outcomes to assess the anterior visual pathway as a model of wider disease. Masked endpoint analyses was used for electrophysiological and selected imaging outcomes. We used piecewise linear mixed models to assess the change in gradients over time at the point of intervention. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00395200. We isolated, expanded, characterised, and administered mesenchymal stem cells in ten patients. The mean dose was 1·6×10 6 cells per kg bodyweight (range 1·1–2·0). One patient developed a transient rash shortly after treatment; two patients had self-limiting bacterial infections 3–4 weeks after treatment. We did not identify any serious adverse events. We noted improvement after treatment in visual acuity (difference in monthly rates of change −0·02 logMAR units, 95% CI −0·03 to −0·01; p=0·003) and visual evoked response latency (−1·33 ms, −2·44 to −0·21; p=0·020), with an increase in optic nerve area (difference in monthly rates of change 0·13 mm 2, 0·04 to 0·22; p=0·006). We did not identify any significant effects on colour vision, visual fields, macular volume, retinal nerve fibre layer thickness, or optic nerve magnetisation transfer ratio. Autologous mesenchymal stem cells were safely given to patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in our study. The evidence of structural, functional, and physiological improvement after treatment in some visual endpoints is suggestive of neuroprotection. Medical Research Council, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Evelyn Trust, NHS National Institute for Health Research, Cambridge and UCLH Biomedical Research Centres, Wellcome Trust, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation, and Sir David and Isobel Walker Trust.

Objectives To investigate the pathological interplay between immunity and the visual processing system (VPS) in thyroid eye disease (TED). Methods A total of 24 active patients (AP), 26 inactive patients (IP) of TED, and 27 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) were conducted for each participant. Multiple MRI parameters of the intraorbital optic nerve (ON) were assessed. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were calculated. Correlation analyses were carried out on the above parameters and clinical characteristics. Results Visual functioning scores differentiated between the AP and IP groups. The ON subarachnoid space and ON sheath diameter were significantly higher in AP than in IP. Six vision-related brain regions were identified in TED patients compared with HCs, including right calcarine (CAL.R), right cuneus (CUN.R), left postcentral gyrus (PoCG.L), right middle temporal gyrus (MTG.R), left superior frontal gyrus (SFG.L), and left caudate (CAU.L). The brain activity of MTG.R, SFG.L, and CAU.L differentiated between the AP and IP groups. The correlation analysis revealed a close association among the vision-related brain regions, MRI parameters of ON, and clinical characteristics in AP and IP, respectively. Conclusions Combined orbital and brain neuroimaging revealed abnormalities of the VPS in TED, which had a close correlation with immune statuses. Vision-related brain regions in TED might be possibly altered by peripheral immunity via a direct or indirect approach. Clinical relevance statement The discovery of this study explained the disparity of visual dysfunction in TED patients with different immune statuses. With the uncovered neuroimaging markers, early detection and intervention of visual dysfunction could be achieved and potentially benefit TED patients. Key Points • Patients with different immune statuses of thyroid eye disease varied in the presentation of visual dysfunction. • The combined orbital and brain neuroimaging study identified six altered vision-related brain regions, which had a significant correlation with the MRI parameters of the intraorbital optic nerve and immunological characteristics. • Peripheral immunity might possibly give rise to alterations in the central nervous system part of the visual processing system via a direct or indirect approach.