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You know the expression, "out of sight, out of mind"? Well, we're actually talking about "in sight, out of mind."  How many times are you looking for something, staring right at it -- and not seeing it?  And no, it's not just that you are losing your mind. A research team from the University of California, Berkeley, is making new discoveries about how the brain organizes visual perception, including how it leaves things out even when they're plainly in sight. And they've come up with a rough map of the frontal cortex’s role in controlling vision, according to newswise.com. The frontal cortex is often seen as our “thinking cap,” the part of the brain scientists associate with thinking and making decisions. But it’s not commonly connected with vision. Some people believe that the frontal cortex is not involved, say researchers. Their new research adds to previous evidence that it is, however. The lack of association with that part of th...

Do you really see what you think you see? Guess what?  You don't. Perception experts have long known that we see much less of the world than we think we do, according to newswise.com. A person creates a mental model of their surroundings by stitching together scraps of visual information gleaned while shifting attention from place to place. Counterintuitively, the very process that creates the illusion of a complete picture relies on filtering out most of what's out there. Kind of like focusing on just what's in front of you when you're trying to ignore distractions.   "The visual system really cares about objects," says postdoctoral fellow J. Eric T. Taylor, who is the lead author on the paper reporting this. "If I move around a room, the locations of all the objects - chairs, tables, doors, walls, etc. -- change on my retina, but my mental representation of the room stays the same." Objects play such a fundamental role in how we...

I feel like a broken record!  Now coffee is being held up as a way to hold on to your eyes. Or, your vision, at least. A cup of coffee a day may keep retinal damage away, newswise.com reports.  Coffee may prevent deterior ating eyesight and possible blindness from retinal degeneration due to glaucoma, aging and diabetes. That's because coffee contains not just caffeine but  chlorogenic acid, a strong antioxidant that prevents retinal degeneration in mice.   Accordin to newswise.com, t he retina is a thin tissue layer on the inside, back wall of the eye with millions of light-sensitive cells and other nerve cells that receive and organize visual information. It is also one of the most metabolically active tissues, demanding high levels of oxygen and making it prone to oxidative stress. The lack of oxygen and production of free radicals leads to tissue damage and loss of sight. “Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, and we are understanding what b...

We all know physical activity is practically commanded by the Bible in the way we're all ordered to practice it.  It can prevent breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes, you name it, even Alzheimer's, according to some studies.  And now it's being touted as a way, along with occasional drinking (?), to keep your eyesight strong well into old age.   newswise.com reports that a  physically active lifestyle and occasional drinking "are associated with a reduced risk of developing visual impairment." (Does this mean we should all become "occasional" drinkers to save our eyes?) But it's not just losing your sight we should be worried about, the Web site notes.  It could also affect the way, and how well, we live. Visual impairment – sight loss often caused by eye disease, trauma, or a congenital or degenerative condition that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses – is associated with a poorer quality of life and, when severe, loss o...

Does your middle school kid get called to the principal's  office just about every other week?  Does he not come home from a friend's when you tell him?  Does he let his homework pile up until teachers warn you he's about to fail? If this is your son, don't worry, says a new study , according to smartplanet.com. He may just be the next Steve Jobs. Not that anyone's recommending you commend your kid for breaking the rules.  But the study, conducted in Germany and Sweden over about 20 years, found that boys who pushed the boundaries often -- but didn't break the law -- often started their own businesses, and were pretty successful. The study followed 1,000 children from 10 years old to adulthood, Tyler Falk reports, and describes the rationale as the success possibly having "its roots in adolescent rule-breaking behavior.” Researchers initally thought they'd find that successful entrepreneurs lacked a moral compass -- you know, only out for the...

I've worn contacts for years. They've helped me see. Now they may also help me text. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/new-technology-could-deliver-text-messages-via-contact-lens/7657?tag=nl.e660&s_cid=e660