Sidney Bradford
Encyclopedia
Sidney Bradford went blind
at 10 months of age but regained sight on both eyes after a cornea transplant
at the age of 52. He was the subject of many scientific studies of perception by neuropsychologist
Richard Gregory
.
His operation was able to reveal idiosyncrasies of the human visual system. For example, not having grown up with vision, Bradford did not perceive the ambiguity of the Necker cube
. Nor was he able to interpret the perspective
of two-dimensional art.
Nevertheless, he could accurately judge the distance to objects in the same room, having been familiar with these distances before regaining sight by virtue of having walked them. In a similar analogy between vision and sightless (touch-only) experience, Bradford was able to visually read the time on the ward clock just after his operation.
Intoxicated with a new world of colour and motion Bradford became terrified of the sights that he could not, in many cases, understand. He could not recognise humans, or many items he had perceived only by touch.
Before surgery Bradford was a skilled machinist, but upon gaining vision, he became confused and unable to work. He committed suicide two years after his operation.
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
at 10 months of age but regained sight on both eyes after a cornea transplant
Cornea transplant
Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting, is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue in its entirety or in part...
at the age of 52. He was the subject of many scientific studies of perception by neuropsychologist
Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells in...
Richard Gregory
Richard Gregory
Richard Langton Gregory, CBE, MA, D.Sc., FRSE, FRS was a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol.-Life and career:...
.
His operation was able to reveal idiosyncrasies of the human visual system. For example, not having grown up with vision, Bradford did not perceive the ambiguity of the Necker cube
Necker cube
The Necker Cube is an optical illusion first published as a rhomboid in 1832 by Swiss crystallographer Louis Albert Necker.-Ambiguity:The Necker Cube is an ambiguous line drawing....
. Nor was he able to interpret the perspective
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
of two-dimensional art.
Nevertheless, he could accurately judge the distance to objects in the same room, having been familiar with these distances before regaining sight by virtue of having walked them. In a similar analogy between vision and sightless (touch-only) experience, Bradford was able to visually read the time on the ward clock just after his operation.
Intoxicated with a new world of colour and motion Bradford became terrified of the sights that he could not, in many cases, understand. He could not recognise humans, or many items he had perceived only by touch.
Before surgery Bradford was a skilled machinist, but upon gaining vision, he became confused and unable to work. He committed suicide two years after his operation.
External links
See also
- Recovery from blindness
- Mike May (skier)