Increased application of rTMS corresponded with a reduction in intensity of visual phosphene hallucinations and was reflected in altered blood oxygen level - dependent signal; fMRI revealed focal excitatory discharges at the border of the lesion, highlighting the origin
of phosphenes.
The researchers also repositioned the coil on the inquirer's head at the start of each game, but for the control games, added a plastic spacer undetectable to the participant that weakened the magnetic field enough to prevent the generation
of phosphenes.
Not exact matches
At the same time, transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to excite the brain's visual cortex, priming the volunteers to see illusory spots
of light called
phosphenes.
The looming sounds had by far the strongest effect, making people see
phosphenes in 70 per cent
of trials, compared with 50 per cent for stationary sounds and 45 per cent for receding ones (Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016 / j.cub.2009.09.027).
Peter Schiller
of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology and his colleagues stimulated these brain areas in monkeys to work out what
phosphenes look like to them and where they appear.
The subjects had to navigate 21 different mazes, with two choices to move forward or down based on whether they sensed a visual stimulation artifact called a
phosphene, which are perceived as blobs or bars
of light.
To signal which direction to move, the researchers generated a
phosphene through transcranial magnetic stimulation, a well - known technique that uses a magnetic coil placed near the skull to directly and noninvasively stimulate a specific area
of the brain.
Artificial retinas, light - sensitive chips that mimic the eye's signal - processing ability and stimulate the optical nerve or visual cortex, have been tested in a handful
of blind subjects who usually «see» nothing more than
phosphenes, or flashes
of light.
This produces
phosphenes, the same sensation
of light created by rubbing one's eyes.
But only a «yes» answer generates a response intense enough to stimulate the visual cortex and cause the inquirer to see a flash
of light known as a «
phosphene.»
The authors concluded that this case was rare in its presentation
of chronic continuous visual
phosphene hallucinations following occipital stroke.
Rafique and colleagues (2016) examined the effectiveness
of multi-day rTMS to the occipital cortex in a patient with continuous visual
phosphene hallucinations for more than 2 years following occipital stroke.
Either one can then send messages to your brain, and signals from the eye to the brain get interpreted as light, whether or not actual light is entering the eye (the rings or spots
of light you see are called
phosphenes).