Editing Blindsight (section)

{{Short description|Visual response in some blind people}}

{{About|the neurological phenomenon}}

'''Blindsight''' is the ability of people who are [[Cortical blindness|cortically blind]] to respond to visual stimuli that they do not consciously see due to [[lesion]]s in the [[Visual cortex#Primary visual cortex (V1)|primary visual cortex]], also known as the [[Visual cortex|striate cortex]] or [[Brodmann area|Brodmann Area]] 17.<ref name="Visual perception and awareness">{{cite journal|vauthors = Celesia G|year = 2010|title = Visual perception and awareness: a modular system|journal = Journal of Psychophysiology|volume = 24|issue = 2|pages = 62–67|doi = 10.1027/0269-8803/a000014}}</ref> The term was coined by [[Lawrence Weiskrantz]] and his colleagues in a paper published in a 1974 issue of ''[[Brain (journal)|Brain]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors = Weiskrantz L, Warrington EK, Sanders MD, Marshall J|title = Visual capacity in the hemianopic field following a restricted occipital ablation|journal = Brain|volume = 97|issue = 4|pages = 709–28|date = December 1974|pmid = 4434190|doi = 10.1093/brain/97.1.709|doi-access = free}}</ref> A previous paper studying the discriminatory capacity of a cortically blind patient was published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' in 1973.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors = Poppel E, Held R, Frost D|title = Leter: Residual visual function after brain wounds involving the central visual pathways in man|journal = Nature|volume = 243|issue = 5405|pages = 295–6|date = June 1973|pmid = 4774871|doi = 10.1038/243295a0|s2cid = 4160116}}</ref>

The assumed existence of blindsight is controversial, with some arguing that it is merely degraded conscious vision.<ref name="overgaard"/><ref name=":5">{{cite journal|vauthors = Overgaard M, Fehl K, Mouridsen K, Bergholt B, Cleeremans A|title = Seeing without Seeing? Degraded Conscious Vision in a Blindsight Patient|journal = PLOS ONE|volume = 3|issue = 8|pages = e3028|date = August 2008|pmid = 18716654|pmc = 2507770|doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0003028|bibcode = 2008PLoSO...3.3028O|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite journal|vauthors = Mazzi C, Bagattini C, Savazzi S|title = Blind-Sight vs. Degraded-Sight: Different Measures Tell a Different Story|language = English|journal = Frontiers in Psychology|volume = 7|pages = 901|date = 2016|pmid = 27378993|pmc = 4909743|doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00901|doi-access = free}}</ref>