Seeing without viewing

 

“First, let's trace the pathway of the "unseen " light. Some fibers from the retina proceed directly to the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe. But other fibers bypass the region responsible for conscious "seeing" and instead project to subcortical and up­per brain stem regions that do not produce a visual image. These lower brain areas are primarily concerned with automatic, reflexive functions such as fight-or-flight. Quickly approaching or looming objects cause the body to swing the head into position so that the eyes can examine the threat . An immediate reflexive action has clear evolutionary benefits over more time-consuming conscious perception and deliberation. In the broadest sense, you could say that these subcortical regions "see" the threat without sending a visual image into awareness.”